The Malawi people are of Bantu origin and comprise of many different ethnic groups. The Chewa Tribe is an African culture that has existed since the beginning of the first millennium, A.D. The Chewa Tribe has weird burial traditions in the world.
The deceased is prepared for and sent on what has been described as the journey into the world of the ancestors.
The Chewa people are an agricultural-based society whose survival depends on water, that is why they see the abundant annual rainfalls as the main evidence of God’s care for humanity.
Different names are used for God in the Chewa society, but the most recurring is ‘Chiuta’, literally meaning ‘the great bow or rainbow in the sky’, which reflects the concept of God among this community; Chiuta emerges, in fact, as the Creator, the giver of rain, the source of life. Chewa society is guided by a system of ancient rules which regulate the relationships in the community according to hierarchy.
These rules state that individuals are not allowed to speak directly to the head of the tribe. Intermediaries are in charge of communication between the people and their heads and the other way round also.
The same rules are applied to the relationship between God and men: Chiuta is not supposed to address human beings directly.
Intermediaries are needed again, and the best suited for this role, in this case, are the spirits of the ancestors because as ‘spirits’ they are between Chiuta and men, and as ‘ancestors’, they are interested in the matters of the tribe.
The Chewa people believe that Chiuta has authorized the spirits of their ancestors to donate the gifts of life such as fertility, prosperity, etc., to the tribe.
The spirits of the ancestors are seen as guardians of traditional customs, and can also cause misfortunes and disease to punish those who do not behave according to traditions.
The dance Gule Wamkulu (‘great dance’) is the bridge between the living and those who are dead. The people involved in the dance are believed to be communicating with the ancestral spirits as part of the religion.
The Gule Wamkulu ritual includes songs and dances performed by masked individuals disguised as animals. It is a symbolic representation of the invisible spirit world performed for various events, such as initiation ceremonies, healing rituals, funerals, and so on.
Apart from being noted for their masks and secret society group called the Nyau, the people of Chewa had a more intriguing ritual. Historians say that it was the custom of the people that when a tribe member dies, the body is taken to a sacred place and cut open at the throat.
Water is then poured through the hole and squeezed down the stomach until it comes out through the anus. This process is done repeatedly until the water comes out clean.
What is even more disturbing is the fact that this water is used to prepare food for the entire tribe. It was the belief that when someone dies, the whole village must show up.
This is because among the Chewa, death is not natural; it is usually caused by witchcraft. The argument is that those who might have killed a person would be scared to go to the funeral.
Currently, Chewa with a population of about 1.5 million people has two clans – the Phiri and the Banda. The Phiri are associated with the kings and aristocracy, while the Banda is usually healers and mystics.
