Every year in August, Mua and KuNgoni Centre celebrate the remembrance of the Ancestors as they recall the name of Chamare ( Jean-Baptist Champmartin ). He is the prototype of the ancestors of the mission station and similarly of all the ancestors of the villages within the circumscription of Mua Parish.
This day of remembrance starts with a commemoration mass focused on the importance of tradition and the continuity between the Old Testament (the culture) and the New Testament (the advent of the Kingdom of God ). The liturgy of that day is purposely expressed in local cultural forms compatible with the gospel message. The rest of the day is spent presenting a variety of traditional dances coming from the Chewa, the Yao , the Ngoni and the Matengo background, the four main cultural groups composing the surrounding area. The dances presented at the 2005 event were the following: Band, Kaulesi, Kanganye, Henga, Chimtala, Moya, Mtopale, Chimtali, Gaula, Chiterera, Kanonomera, Gonje (Matengo), Ntheko, Chisamba, Aruwa, Chimbwiza, Dambelo, Malipenga, Kazukuta, Mkwendo, M'ganda, Ulenje, Chimtali, Chisamba, N'jiri, Kazukuta, Khunju, Gonje (Chewa), Masalimo, Chandamare, Machipo, Uyeni, Msindo, Ligubo and Ngoma.
Repeated experience that becomes a tradition
The first Commemoration Day was performed in 2001 and for that occasion a dozen dances were presented to the public. In 2002, 2003 the festival was omitted because of the cerebration of the centenary of Mua Mission. In 2004, the dances performed increased to 23.
This year in 2005, their number reached 30 and another half a dozen were scheduled but did not take place due to local circumstances. A display of wood carvings was put up next to the administration block and Mr. Kapalamula explained one of his paintings to the audience. Poems and short drama were supposed to be recited and performed by the youth but unfortunately did not take place due to a clash on dates with Radio Maria's competition.
A learning experience that requires adjustment
The first comment to be made about the Remembrance Day is the increase of dances from 12 to 30 and the number of performers that reached 554 this year. This means an important exposure for the local community to their cultural dances, so seldom performed in our days. The dozens of groups responsible for uncovering the dances have definitely taken their role seriously remembering and rehearsing the dances of their ancestors and presenting them to the public.
The KuNgoni Centre took advantage of their rehearsals by videoing their performance and recording the meaning and purpose of these dances and of each individual song. This is to be archived and kept at the Kafukufuku Research Centre. The composition of each group varied from place to place. Some groups incorporated young people and taught them their dances. Other groups tended to be exclusive and did not allow new blood to interact with them. As a way of insuring the continuity of the dances in the villages, the Centre could make it compulsory for a certain percentage of young people to be part of each group when they do their presentation in public.
One of the major obstacles for the continuity of culture is that groups performing various dances are more concerned about protecting their personal income rather than passing on the skill of dancing to younger generations. Exclusivism tends to kill the future of our cultural dances. Moreover the KuNgoni centre feels that such a day of remembrance should be multiplied in order to give the youth more exposure to their cultural heritage. For this purpose, the centre is committed to making some of these dances available on home video thus stimulating the younger generation to keep their traditions and equally encourage them to develop new forms of dances influenced by the traditions of older generations. During the six hours presentation, a large number of young people and adults from the surroundings and many guests from outside have been exposed to a particularly rich cultural event. The KuNgoni Centre and the Parish need to sit down and devise ways of reaching a wider audience and more varied layers of the local population for next year's presentation.
An encounter with our own professional dancers
In early June 2005, word was sent out from the KuNgoni Centre to the various groups and villages responsible for selecting the dances to be performed at the festival. At this stage, no limit was set to the number and the type of dances to be performed. Each group had to meet and investigate the repertoire available to its own locality. Usually a group was composed of a core of elderly women supported by a few younger women (with children who have reached marriageable age).
In some cases some elderly men were meeting with them, however younger people were an exception. As they sat and discussed, they tried to recall the dances they did in their youth and then listed them. They reminded each other of the drum beat, the hand clapping, the songs and the steps appropriate for each dance. After this first exercise, the group would agree to meet again at the place of its convenience in their own locality and attempt a first practice of the dances chosen earlier. The number of songs for each dance were limited to three in order to allow as many dances as possible on the programme. The number of performers for each group was limited to twenty for manageability. The groups kept rehearsing the dances they could master and then fixed a date for presenting them at the mission. On the agreed day, these dances were performed on the “ bwalo” of KuNgoni. The leader of each group introduced their dances one after the other and specified its history, purpose and the occasion to which it was performed, any other detail concerning a dance was welcome.
After the dancing of each song, one of the performers would explain its meaning. All this was videoed and kept for archiving purposes. During this practice the dancers had time to become familiar with the dancing ground they were to use on the 20 th of August. After this initial exercise, some of the groups that felt they could contribute more dances would agree to come back at a later stage after having had time to polish the other remaining dances that they had in store. If the repertoire of dances was duplicated by two groups, the group that performed best a specific dance was chosen at the end of the period of audition for its presentation in public. Each group came in turn over a period of three weeks preceding the Remembrance Day. If some of the dancers proposed for the programme of this year had not reached a certain standard of excellence, though they were videoed, they were kept for next year's programme. Time was done so they could be more polished. The person in charge of the cultural programmes at KuNgoni did the final selection and the programme a few days before the event.
On the Commemoration Day, early morning each group was made aware of the time schedule of each dance. At the end of that day after the performance, each dancer was thanked and rewarded according to the number of dances he had taken part in. Promises were renewed to meet again next year for a similar event. Meanwhile this waiting period gives time to the members of these groups and of other groups that may be tempted to come forward, to remember other forgotten traditional dances or create their own in order to boost cultural expression in their own areas.
A discovery of our dances as a unifying force amidst diversity
In the study that the centre does after collecting the material for the Commemoration Day, it is obvious that the cultures of Malawi and particularly those of the Mua area are varied and dynamic. The villages performing at the festival are geographically close to each other, but never the less, their tradition of dances are very different from each other betraying various origins.
This richness of tribal identities was reinforced by inter marriages between villages and a high-density population pattern. Many dances at their origin were to be identified with a particular tribal group and had a specific ritual function. As this function was lost, these dances began to be performed mainly for entertainment and so their identity was to be shared between Chewa, Yao , Ngoni and Matengo. They have become a common cultural heritage. E.g. dances like; Chintali, Chioda, Gaula and Chitelera. Dances like Njiri, Khunju and Gonje are shared by both Chewa and Ngoni - Matengo. Gonje originally belong to the Matengo group and was performed without drums using exclusively hand clapping (e.g. as performed by the village of Nganja which is composed of Matengo and Ngoni people. When it was adopted by the people of Njolo (composed of Ngoni - Chewa) drums were added to embellish the dance.
The 2005 Remembrance Day has shown that the creation of new dances is a reaction to events, changes and greater mobility in the country. Several dances (e.g. Kanganye) were invented around 1920 when the mission was contesting Gule wamkulu. Others (e.g. Kaulesi) were created around the forties under the influence of school. Other dances take their origin among the Yao population around Malembo and became popular among the Chewa at a similar period (e.g. Chandamale, Aruwa and Masalimo). Masalimo for instance comes from the performance of the Muslim Sikiri, the proclamation of the names of Allah. Other dances like Machipo came all the way from the south (Nsanje) possibly connected with those who did “Chitengwa” or those who were involved in the construction of the railway line.
A dance like Henga has entered Malawi from Mozambique and has become an important feature of wedding cerebrations. It was brought by the refuges at the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties. In our 2005 festival, the Henga style was seen to influence the Yao Chimbwiza dance and Dombelo dance, which is derived from it. This was noticed in the costume and the dancing itself. Both the Chimbwiza and Dombelo dances have had an increase of popularity recently with regards to weddings and have rivaled with Henga. Malipenga was introduced from the Lilongwe plain and from the Mchinji area as result of young people finding employment as tenants on tobacco farms. When employment was terminated Malipenga was brought back on to the lakeshore and was used for celebrating weddings and other festive events.
In contrast, dances associated with ceremonies of life crisis, still practiced today, have been preserved and are the monopoly of each ethnic group. They tend to be performed in their own localities except when they spontaneously spring up at beer parties out of their own cultural context.
For initiation ceremonies; Chisamba, Gule wamkulu (for the Chewa), Manganje (for the Yao ). For wedding ceremonies; Kazukuta (for the Chewa) Uyeni, Msindo, Ligubo, Ngoma (for the Ngoni) for the enthronement of chiefs; Kazukuta, Gule wamkulu (for the Chewa) Ligubo Ngoma (for the Ngoni) for funerals and commemoration rites; Gule wamkulu for the Chewa, Ligubo Ngoma (for the Ngoni, Mkhwendo for the Matengo).
Click here to view our Table of Dances and their Meanings
An insight into the songs we sing; they talk about life
In the analysis of the songs collected at the 2005 festival a striking discovery was made: the relevance of their message for today. Traditional songs have various functions. At times their wording is made to commemorate an event and its repetition fosters the preservation of oral tradition from one generation to the next (e.g. Ngoma). Other songs celebrate the fame of some important chiefs or individuals who have marked their time. Others mourn their departure from this world (e.g. Ngoma, Aruwa, Mkhwendo);” the only real farmer died. Those who don't know how to farm remain behind; let us see how they manage (alone). He died the only real farmer ”.
However most of the songs deliver messages connected with behavior and moral values. They act as a caricature criticising misconduct and showing the right path through pointing at the opposite direction. Most of the dances performed at our 2005 event fall within this category. The themes they developed are familiar to the Malawi cultures and are of great actuality. They spell out individual and social values. They stress the importance of the “Mwambo” (e.g. Chisamba), of politeness and good manners (e.g. Kaulesi, Chimbwiza) and the necessity of hygiene, cleanliness (e.g. Moya), and of being self reliant and not depending on borrowed possessions (e.g. Mganda) “I don't want husband who wears rags. He could put his fleas in the winnowing basket”.
Other songs emphasise social relations within the village and the family. They advocate the respect of the authority (e.g. Chintala, Kanonomera) and are critical towards leaders who do not participate in development (e.g. Dambelo). With regard to married life, they preach fairness to the “Mkamwini” (e.g. Khunju, Gonje) but remind the husband of the need to care for his family (e.g. Aruwa) and escape poverty (eg Khunju, Gonje).Other songs joke about the curse of impotence and infertility (e.g. Masalimo, Kanganye). “The rat has given birth before the owner of the house did. This has happened to him in his youth alas he will never see his own reflexion .” Other songs warn against unfaithfulness in marriage and promiscuity that can result in sexual diseases (e.g. Ngoma, Gaula, Chintali, Chandamare).
Polygamy is seen as disrupting peace within the family (e.g. Chandamare.): “I don't know about Lea… her husband has been given a love potion (by the first wife) No one heard about him.” With regard to the extended family group, many songs stress the importance of respect of the neighbour's property and emphasise the supremacy of sharing, harmony and honesty (e.g. Machipo).
Such messages contrast strongly with our present day life when our traditional values tend to go forgotten and money becomes the only thing important. Our traditional songs and dances act as a reminder to our society in change that friendship and brotherhood are superior to wealth and possessions. “ When my father died what were his last words? My son, I live you wealth, it is not in the form of cattles but in the care of each other” (e.g. Ngoma).
A last word
The value of the Remembrance Day has to be ultimately measured against the wave of changes affecting our lives today. As we have less and less exposure to our dances and traditions, the voice of the ancestors grows fainter and may well disappear. We are caught up in the noise of modernity and foreignness. We forget our own identity and sometime our sense of purpose. This is particularly true for the youth who are under the spell and magic of the outside world. All that come from outside is seen as good! How do we develop a critical spirit towards foreign influence? The new generation of parents tends to give up their responsibility as leaders.
As a result, the youth, by far the most numerous in the country, are pushed into leading positions with little experience and a poor sense of direction. That is why we need to reinvent our traditions and use any means possible to bring back the voice and wisdom of the ancestors to our lives. They alone can lead us to live, not only as they have lived, as their true sons and daughters who have been fed by their wisdom and also enlighten by the contact with the rest of the world.
Above: Father Claude Boucher Chisale dancing Ngoma |