Learning About The Malawi Culture

Written By Admin on Kamis, 27 Juni 2013 | 01.13

By Leonor Rivera


Malawi is one of the most well known countries in south eastern part of Africa and is very famous for its rich culture and customs among the whole continent. Now always remember that there is no single Malawian culture simply because there are so many tribes in this country. However, the Malawi culture all share some common customs and practices which will probably never die out.

The Malawians have a very unique set of languages and dialects that are actually very unique to the other people of the entire Africa. Now for those who do not know, the three main languages that are being spoken in the country are Chiyao, Chitimbuka, and Chichewa. Chichewa is known to be the most used language because the Chewa tribe, the tribe that created the language, makes up a very large population of the entire Malawi.

As for the religions of this country, many would believe that African tribes would still be practicing their old traditions and religious practices. Although this may be true for a few tribes, many have already left their old traditions and started to go to new ones. In fact, majority of the population are either split into Islam or Christianity.

Also, just as their forefathers did, many tribes of these Malawians still live in huts or community long houses. Although some areas have already been modernized, many people still stick to the traditional way of doing things. Probably the only difference in building huts would be that the huts today will also make use of some cement or bricks in order to be sturdier.

Of course the Malawian dance is something that makes them unique from other cultures as it incorporates many summoning rituals. The Gule Wamkulu is probably one of the most significant dances in this entire because it is a religious one. This dance is said to be able to summon different kinds of spirits like forest spirits, animal spirits, and even spirits of the dead.

Now do not think that all of these Malawian dances were just used for religious practices. In fact, there are also some dances that were used for the sole purpose of entertainment. The Chitalele is a dance where in young women from each tribe would perform during an inter tribe dance competition.

Now the clothing of Malawians are also very unique because it can only be found in this region. The women in particular have a special piece of clothing called the Chitenje which can be used for so many things. Women may use this cloth as a basket, a baby carrier, or even for many other things where in they need to carry their other belongings.

So basically, those are some things that all tribes in the Malawi culture have in common. Although there are so many tribes in the country, they all share a few commonalities because they all came from the same ancestors. So just to give an idea to the people who want to learn about the Malawians, these are some of the things that all tribes share.




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