DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0255
THE WAYAO OF NYASALAND
239
or a girl who has just returned from Chiputu must not touch the child, as it is said, “ Her
body is hot and would give fever to the child.” To guard against such a happening, some
“ clean ” woman, after handing some beads to the mother, will ask to be allowed to take
the infant. This indicates that should it sicken, the beads will pay the medicine-woman
who comes to cure it. The mother and baby are simply washed in water and are not treated
with medicine, unless meconium has been voided before the child was delivered.1 If the
infant dies before it is presented to the outside world, it is disposed of in the same way as
a stillborn child, i.e. buried in the ash-heap. About the tenth day, the baby is adorned
with a girdle of beads and two little pieces of stick obtained from a medicine-woman to
make the infant grow fat.
The length of time during which the father and mother refrain from cohabitation after
the birth of a baby varies greatly according to circumstance. Four months is probably a
minimum, while two years, during which the woman suckles the child, is the common
interval. After the first coitus, the man and woman wash themselves and the baby is
bathed in the same water to prevent any ill coming to it.
Suckling often continues much longer than two years. If the mother dies, the child may
be suckled by the grandmother, an aunt, or some other woman, but the breasts must first
be treated with medicine or the child would die
A child born breech first is called salanga, a word which is also used to denote a variety
of domestic fowl which always has the appearance of having its feathers ruffled. A child
who dies before the father and mother have resumed sexual relations is buried in a grave-
yard apart from that of adults. The grave, dug with sticks, not hoes, is very shallow,
and when it is filled in, a heap of stones is made above it. Only women attend the burial.
A deep grave would cause the mother to go on losing children at an early age. The body
of such a child is called litunu, “ hyaena.”
A woman dying undelivered is placed in the grave in the usual way and then, before
filling in the earth, one of the grave-diggers descends into the pit, cuts through the envelop-
ing shroud, and incises the abdomen. One end of a long bamboo stick or reed is inserted
in the incision and the other end is brought out to the surface of the grave. If this were not
done, “ many would die in childbirth.”
Twins are not killed by the Yao but are well treated and always cared for equally.
They are given similar clothing and food.2 There is a story that the mother of Nkwamba,
1 Chinyera, vide infra, p. 286.
2 Cf. A. Werner, ‘ Among the Congo Cannibals, by John H. Weeks, London, 1913, a review,’ (Man, vol. 14, no.
15, 1914, p. 15).
I take this opportunity of referring to Miss Werner’s review in which, speaking of twins, she says, “ They are
always among the Anyanja given the names Mngoli and Nyuma.” Mngoli in Chinyanja refers to a kind of musical
instrument and the Chiyao meaning is “ cocoanut palm.” Nyuma is a Chiyao word which certainly means “ the back.”
It is sometimes used of the second born twin but does not occur in Chinyanja. I have never heard of twins either
among the Wayao or the Anyanja spoken of by these names. A mother carries the first born on the right arm and the
second born on the left, but, so far as I know, she does not give a duplicate greeting nor make a habit of eating equally
with both hands.
239
or a girl who has just returned from Chiputu must not touch the child, as it is said, “ Her
body is hot and would give fever to the child.” To guard against such a happening, some
“ clean ” woman, after handing some beads to the mother, will ask to be allowed to take
the infant. This indicates that should it sicken, the beads will pay the medicine-woman
who comes to cure it. The mother and baby are simply washed in water and are not treated
with medicine, unless meconium has been voided before the child was delivered.1 If the
infant dies before it is presented to the outside world, it is disposed of in the same way as
a stillborn child, i.e. buried in the ash-heap. About the tenth day, the baby is adorned
with a girdle of beads and two little pieces of stick obtained from a medicine-woman to
make the infant grow fat.
The length of time during which the father and mother refrain from cohabitation after
the birth of a baby varies greatly according to circumstance. Four months is probably a
minimum, while two years, during which the woman suckles the child, is the common
interval. After the first coitus, the man and woman wash themselves and the baby is
bathed in the same water to prevent any ill coming to it.
Suckling often continues much longer than two years. If the mother dies, the child may
be suckled by the grandmother, an aunt, or some other woman, but the breasts must first
be treated with medicine or the child would die
A child born breech first is called salanga, a word which is also used to denote a variety
of domestic fowl which always has the appearance of having its feathers ruffled. A child
who dies before the father and mother have resumed sexual relations is buried in a grave-
yard apart from that of adults. The grave, dug with sticks, not hoes, is very shallow,
and when it is filled in, a heap of stones is made above it. Only women attend the burial.
A deep grave would cause the mother to go on losing children at an early age. The body
of such a child is called litunu, “ hyaena.”
A woman dying undelivered is placed in the grave in the usual way and then, before
filling in the earth, one of the grave-diggers descends into the pit, cuts through the envelop-
ing shroud, and incises the abdomen. One end of a long bamboo stick or reed is inserted
in the incision and the other end is brought out to the surface of the grave. If this were not
done, “ many would die in childbirth.”
Twins are not killed by the Yao but are well treated and always cared for equally.
They are given similar clothing and food.2 There is a story that the mother of Nkwamba,
1 Chinyera, vide infra, p. 286.
2 Cf. A. Werner, ‘ Among the Congo Cannibals, by John H. Weeks, London, 1913, a review,’ (Man, vol. 14, no.
15, 1914, p. 15).
I take this opportunity of referring to Miss Werner’s review in which, speaking of twins, she says, “ They are
always among the Anyanja given the names Mngoli and Nyuma.” Mngoli in Chinyanja refers to a kind of musical
instrument and the Chiyao meaning is “ cocoanut palm.” Nyuma is a Chiyao word which certainly means “ the back.”
It is sometimes used of the second born twin but does not occur in Chinyanja. I have never heard of twins either
among the Wayao or the Anyanja spoken of by these names. A mother carries the first born on the right arm and the
second born on the left, but, so far as I know, she does not give a duplicate greeting nor make a habit of eating equally
with both hands.