Cultural Heritage of Zambia – Chewa People – Their History and Culture

The Chewa people of Zambia live in the Eastern Province of the country. The language of the Chewa is Chichewa and Chichewa speakers are Malawi and Mozambique. The reason for this is that historically before the white colonial masters came to Africa, the Chewa people of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique had one ruler: His Royal Highness Kalonga Gawa Undi. But when the colonialists came and created national borders, the Chewas became separated and found themselves living in three countries with different colonial masters. Zambia and Malawi fell under British colonial rule while Mozambique belonged to Portugal.

However, the Chewa continued to recognize themselves as one despite colonial rule and the country’s new borders. The traditional headquarters of the Zambian Chewa is in Mkaika, Katete and today ceremonies (particularly the Kulamba Ceremony) are held every year bringing together the leaders of the three countries.

The Chewa people are known for their love of agriculture and, in particular, their crafts: the women for their pottery skills and the men for their skills in making bamboo basketry, hoes, axes, arrows, reed mats and palm leaf mats. Men are also good hunters and fishermen and these skills are believed to bring honor to manhood. The Chewa are hardworking people known to despise any form of laziness believing it leads to the degrading practice of begging.

The sacred places of the Chewa

• The Royal Cemetery at Mano Headquarters in Malawi
• The Msinja and Mankhamba shrines
• The grave of Undi Chisakamzondi who died while traveling in Mozambique
• Kaphirintiwa in Malawi where the markings on the rocks resemble human and animal footprints which is believed to be the place of creation.
• The ancestral graves at the traditional seat of Mkaika

The Chewa clans

The two original main clans were the Banda, who were historically healers and mystics, and the Phiri, who were said to be of the aristocracy. Other clans are:

• The Mbewe are known to enjoy the delicacy of eating mice (although the Phiri and Banda will also enjoy this delicacy)
• The Kwenda clan that comes from the word ‘mkwenda’ meaning ‘the stripper’. The tail suggests that a Phiri clan man inappropriately stripped his sisters’ clothes while he was travelling, the rest is history!
• The Mhandwe clan, which is a branch of the Banda clan. The story goes that a man eloped with a woman from his clan (somewhat embarrassing) and as a result wanted to be known as Mhandwe and not Banda.
• The Mwale clan from the word ‘kumwalira’ which means ‘to die’. The story suggests that there was a bloody fight between two groups of people because they shot an animal and couldn’t agree on how to split the head.
• The Linde clan from the word ‘kulinda’ which means ‘to see’. This was the group that did not join the earlier fight, but rather kept watch over the carcass of the animal that was being fought over.

Leadership and political organization.

Interestingly, the traditional social structure of Chewa is matrilineal: property and land rights are inherited from mothers and it is the woman’s lineage that keeps the lineage alive. The traditional leader of the Chewa is usually a man, but descent takes place through the female side which derives its identity from the woman and the villages are made up of matrilineal relatives by marriage.

The overall leader of the Chewa is known as the Kalonga Gawa Undi who is in charge of all the Chewa chiefs who, in turn, supervise the village chiefs. Kalonga Gawa Undi has the following meaning:

• Kalonga: ‘one who identifies and installs craft in others’
• Gawa: ‘one who allocates land and shares the wealth with others’
• Undi: ‘he who protects the citizens, keeping them under his wings as a bird protects its young’

Those in line for leadership compete for their right to headship but, contrary to popular belief, this does not necessarily mean conflict. Wise chiefs will select a nephew as their successor and send their other nephews to establish subordinate chiefdoms. In fact, this system has avoided major disputes for centuries.

taboos

The Chewa people will be offended if they are confused with the Nyanja because this propagates the colonial misunderstanding of their origin. Although the Nyanja and Chichewa languages ​​are similar, they are different and to say that they are the same denies the validity of the Chichewa language.

Another taboo is to mention, call or write the birth name of the successor of the Kalonga Gawa Undi. Kalonga Gawa Undi office must be seen to never die. Before the burial of Kalonga Gawa Undi, the royal family chooses his successor and his successor’s birth name is ceremonially buried along with his predecessor. Therefore, the name of the current Gawa is simply Kalonga Gawa Undi XI.

This article is inspired by the book ‘Ceremony! Celebrating Zambia’s Cultural Heritage’. It’s a fabulous, eye-pleasing book that I encourage you to get. I got mine from ZAIN in Lusaka, Zambia. It is published by Celtel Zambia PLC and Seka. Original photography, Francois d’Elbee. Coordinating author, Tamara Guhrs. Editor, Mulunga Kapwepwe. Contributing authors, Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika, Prof. Mapopa Mtonga, Mulenga Kapwepwe, Isaac Smogy Kapinga, Miranda Guhrs, Msatero Tembo, Matiya Ngalande, and Joseph Chikuta.

Zambia encourages tourists to witness traditional ceremonies and you will find local tour service providers particularly helpful.