The Culture of the Yao People

The Culture of the Yao People

By Conor Hayes and Paige Harrison.

A wood carving of the Yao tribe
and a traditional Yao chair 

After working hard for over two months in Ntcheu we were so grateful to get the chance to visit another part of Malawi for our cultural trip. We went to a beautiful place called Mangochi which is very close to Lake Malawi. 

Whilst there we visited a cultural village museum named "Mpale cultural village" which was all about the Yao tribe. We learnt that the Yao’s originally came from Mozambique and came over to Malawi in the 1860’s. They left Mozambique because of the land scarcity, internal disputes, natural disasters and conflict with other tribes such as the Ngoni tribe. During this time, the Yao's were divided into ten separate groups, however only four out of then ten groups resided in Malawi.

We also learnt that the Yao’s were successful long distance traders, particularly in iron and ivory. They normally traded with other groups on the East coast of Africa, for salt, cloth and beads. However this trading lead to a darker side when they later got involved in the slave trade with the Arabs. While at the cultural village we saw a wooden carving of a statue representing the slave trade. When seeing this statue it really put it into perspective what one tribe can do to their fellow man, as well as how far the tribe has come in the last few centuries. 

The Yao ceramic pot

We were also lucky enough to get to see some of the equipment that was used by the Yao's in the nineteenth century and some which is still used across Malawi today. One of these things was a ceramic pot in which water was stored. They used to store the pot on a base covered in sand that is said to keep the water cold, which apparently was also a method to make the water have better taste.

The traditional game "Bawo"

In the cultural village, there was also a board game called “Bawo”, the objective of the game was (and still is) to use Mathematics to clear your opponent’s marbles. This game is still hugely popular not only in Malawi but also across Southern Africa today. We often see the game set being sold in the market and we commonly play it in our Ntcheu office during breaks. 

The potential Yao hotel rooms for
guests

The Mpali cultural village is also trying to launch traditional Yao styled rooms. People can stay in these rooms overnight to experience Yao culture and food. We thought this was a great idea to help expand the museum and give people more of an insight to the Yao culture, as well as encouraging the tradition to persist. 

One of our favourite parts of the village was being able to see Lake Malawi from the top of the hill. We were told this was one of the best places to see the lake from a distance and we were certainly convinced of this. 

The view of Lake Malawi from Mpali cultural village

Ntcheu Cohort 2 Team

After our trip we felt much more informed on the Yao Culture and its people. We recommend Mpali cultural village to the future cohorts so they can too find out more about the traditions and tribes of the ‘Warm Heart of Africa”.