The Sunday Mail
Emmanuel Kafe
THE Nyau culture, which is associated with the people of Chewa origin, is shrouded in mystery. Nyau (Gure) is a community, a tribe of the Bantu people from Central and Southern Africa.
In Zimbabwe, the Nyau are found among Malawian and Zambian immigrant communities.
They are prominent in Harare’s high- density surburbs of Mufakose, Mabvuku, Dzivarasekwa, Mbare, as well as in farming and mining communities.
Nyabira and Chitungwiza also have popular Nyau groups. Known more for their lively dances, they observe a series of secret rituals.
There is an aura of queerness about this set of people, despite the fact that behind the masked faces are ordinary human beings.
Viewed with suspicion and fear to some extent by outsiders, most probably due to the secrecy surrounding this culture, many have sought to understand the principles and beliefs associated with the Nyau.
There are some Nyau members who have sought to dispel misconceptions about their way of life and beliefs through The Sunday Mail Society.
Forty-eight-year-old Mr Misheck Tavara, who is based in Mt Hampden, was initiated into the society in Malawi when he was eight years old. In turn, he claims to have initiated almost 500 members into the Gule Wamunkulu cultural dance.
While he is part of the Gule/Nyau society, religiously observing its tenets for close to 38 years, his wife religiously attends church at a local prophetic ministry.
“The Nyau communicate with the spirits, or those who are dead, and this act is called pemphero lalikulu, or the great prayer,” said Mr Tavara, who is also the Zimbabwe National Traditional Dancers group leader overseeing Mt Hampden.
The Nyau believe that life exists within their ancestors and those not yet born. Mr Tavara said during public holidays, anniversaries and funerals, initiated members of the Nyau brotherhood perform Gule Wamkulu, which means “Great Dance” in Chichewa.
At such an occasion, Nyau are understood to be possessed by the spirits of the mask – both animal spirits, called nyama, and the spirits of the dead or their ancestors, called mizimu – which he said must not be referred to as men.
He added that Gule or Zvigure also believe in the presence of God in everyday life, and that God has universal powers.
Mr Tavara said the spirit world is symbolically represented during the Gule Wamkulu dance.
The Nyau dances involve intricate footwork and flinging dust in the air. Dancers respond to specific drumbeats or songs depending on their mask type and character often incorporate reverse role-playing, proverbs and satire in performances.
Elder women perform in the Gule Wamkulu with intricate clapping, singing, dancing and chanting, responding to the song of the masquerader.
Locally, children are initiated into Nyau when they are 10 years old with the initiation ceremony for a new member usually beginning with the initiate living in a cemetery for up to a week.
Having been initiated in Malawi, Mr Tavara said recruits are blind folded with a black sack cloth when going to the cemeteries.
“After three days, the blinds were removed. The elders taught us about respecting our parents, not to enter our parents’ bedroom nor the kitchen area, not to open pots and food dishes, to mention but a few,” he explained.
Mr Tavara also revealed that during the period the boys are in camp, they are circumcised and on their release from the camp known as dambo, they are not allowed to talk to anyone or eat anything for two weeks, unless they are given money.
The girls are not spared either. They attend chinamwali where elder women known as nyamukungu teach them how to handle their homes upon getting married.
He, however, rubbished reports that they eat raw uncooked chicken.
“The chicken is boiled and eaten by everyone who participates in the initiation process. The black mask represents a bad spirit and those with feathers represent good spirits,” he said.
He said in Malawi, those who wear the black masks play roles that include causing misfortune or attacking someone upon request from an individual seeking revenge.
The men are spirits in the ritual and cannot be identified by relatives who may recognise them as their husbands, fathers, brother and uncles.
Exposing the identity of a Nyau member wearing a mask is disrespectful to this society as it breaks the masquerade’s link from the spirit world of the dead.
Yet hidden behind these intimidating masks, costumes and rituals are ordinary people, who also live normal lives.
“Your brother, your father, or even your husband could be Nyau and perhaps no one in your family will ever know. The Nyau keep their secrets, just as they have for many hundreds of years.
“This cult has been around for centuries, but the Nyau association is closely related with Chewa and Maganja people who come from Malawi, while the true origins are traced from the Congo,” he narrated.
Nyau dances were originally conducted outside villages as ceremonial rites unlike the practice nowadays when they can be a form of entertainment where people donate money as a form of appreciation.
The Nyau culture has stood the test of time despite the fact that most of its members have forgetten other aspects of the custom, which includes their language.
However, dancing on the streets lives on, strongly guarded by the oath to secrecy.
