The Chewa people of Zambia live in the eastern province of the country. The language of the Chewa is Chichewa and the people who speak Chichewa 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 a ruler: His Royal Highness Kalonga Gawa Undi. But when the colonialists arrived and created national borders, the Chewas split up 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 the country’s colonial rule and new borders. Zambia’s traditional Chewa headquarters are located in Mkaika, Katete and today ceremonies (notably the Kulamba Ceremony) are held every year that bring together the leaders of the three countries.

The Chewa people are known for their love of agriculture and, in particular, for 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 honor manhood. The Chewa are hard-working people who are known to despise any form of laziness believing it leads to the degrading practice of begging.

The holy places of the Chewa

• The royal cemetery at Mano headquarters in Malawi
• The shrines of Msinja and Mankhamba
• The grave of Undi Chisakamzondi who dies while traveling in Mozambique
• Kaphirintiwa in Malawi, where there are marks on the rocks that resemble human and animal footprints, believed to be the place of creation.
• The ancestral tombs at the traditional headquarters of Mkaika

The Chewa clans

The original two main clans were the Banda, who were historically healers and mystics, and the Phiri, who were said to be 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’ which means ‘the stripper’. The tail suggests that a man from the Phiri clan inappropriately undressed his sisters’ clothing while traveling; The rest is history!
• The Mphandwe 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 Mphandwe, 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 could not agree on how to divide the head.
• The Linde clan from the word ‘kulinda’ which means ‘to look’. This was the group that did not join the fight above, but instead looked after the carcass of the animal that was being fought over.

Leadership and political organization

Interestingly, the traditional Chewa social structure is matrilineal: property and land rights are inherited from mothers and it is the woman’s lineage that keeps the lineage alive. The traditional Chewa leader is usually male, but the offspring pass through the female side deriving their identity from the woman and the villages are made up of matrilineal relatives by marriage.

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

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

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

Taboos

The Chewa people will be offended if they are mistaken for the Nyanja because this spreads the colonial misunderstanding of their origin. Although the Nyanja and Chichewa languages ​​are similar, they are different and saying that they are one and 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. It must be seen that the office of the Kalonga Gawa Undi never dies. Before the burial of the Kalonga Gawa Undi, his successor is chosen by the royal family 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 is a fabulous and visually pleasing book that I encourage you to do. I got mine from ZAIN in Lusaka, Zambia. It is published by Celtel Zambia PLC and Seka. Original photograph, 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 tourism service providers to be of great help.