DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0293
THE WAYAO OF NYASALAND 277
generous and popular, the donations may mount up to a useful sum. Dancing goes on late
into the afternoon when all return to the village.
The man may not speak to his guardian again until after the birth of the child. The
two women guardians, the mkamusi and the nakanga, as a rule cease sexual intercourse with
their husbands during the same period or, at all events, during the last month before the
birth of the child.
The child born of a woman who has not gone through Litiwo is buried alive.
Chieftainship. The Yao when they migrated to their present country were headed by
a number of their chiefs. These eventually settled in different areas adjacent to one another,
each ruling over a considerable tract of country. The chief was supported by a number
of headmen, each of whom looked after a village; the chiefs and headmen in turn being
assisted by the village elders.
Often among a chief’s counselors one found a number of his relatives, and sons and
brothers were often made headmen. A man assuming chieftainship often had to dispose
of a brother of whom he was afraid.
Chieftainship is hereditary, the chief’s name being passed on to each successor. Succes-
sion is to eldest son of the eldest sister or a son of some other sister. Failing these, it passes
to a grand-nephew. If there is no acceptable adult nephew, a full brother may succeed.
Macdonald’s account of the Malemya’s succession1 is, I believe, incorrect. The old
Malemya (Nalutumbo) was succeeded according to custom by his nephew, Kasabola who,
as Malemya, was called Ndalama. Kumtaja was not a younger brother of Nalutumbo or
Kasobola, but a cousin of the latter. Ndalama was succeeded by a nephew, not the eldest
but the second son of a sister, the eldest having already succeeded to the chieftainship of
Kumtaja was therefore ineligible. The present Malemya will be succeeded by a grand-
nephew, the son of a daughter of his eldest sister, his sister having no sons.
A successor inherited all the wives and slaves of the deceased chief and all his goods
and chattels, guns, ivory and gardens. Any small possessions might be divided among the
deceased’s children and in the case of guns, those who had always used them often laid
claims not to be separated from their weapons; these claims were often allowed by the
new chief.
In the same way, any ordinary man’s successor is his nephew, the son of a sister, who
inherits all goods and chattels and slave wives, but not free-born wives, nor gardens, which
go to the free wives. Stock is generally divided among the children.
Before 1891, when a British Protectorate was formally declared over Nyasaland, each
chief ruled supreme. He was consulted as to the dates for Unyago; he directed the har-
vesting, etc.; he proclaimed war and generally was paramount among his people. It will
be seen, therefore, that he was a busy man, but he received no direct remuneration. His
wealth consisted of slaves and ivory. Slaves he obtained in warfare and as blood money,
1 Op. cit., vol. 1, p. 190.
generous and popular, the donations may mount up to a useful sum. Dancing goes on late
into the afternoon when all return to the village.
The man may not speak to his guardian again until after the birth of the child. The
two women guardians, the mkamusi and the nakanga, as a rule cease sexual intercourse with
their husbands during the same period or, at all events, during the last month before the
birth of the child.
The child born of a woman who has not gone through Litiwo is buried alive.
Chieftainship. The Yao when they migrated to their present country were headed by
a number of their chiefs. These eventually settled in different areas adjacent to one another,
each ruling over a considerable tract of country. The chief was supported by a number
of headmen, each of whom looked after a village; the chiefs and headmen in turn being
assisted by the village elders.
Often among a chief’s counselors one found a number of his relatives, and sons and
brothers were often made headmen. A man assuming chieftainship often had to dispose
of a brother of whom he was afraid.
Chieftainship is hereditary, the chief’s name being passed on to each successor. Succes-
sion is to eldest son of the eldest sister or a son of some other sister. Failing these, it passes
to a grand-nephew. If there is no acceptable adult nephew, a full brother may succeed.
Macdonald’s account of the Malemya’s succession1 is, I believe, incorrect. The old
Malemya (Nalutumbo) was succeeded according to custom by his nephew, Kasabola who,
as Malemya, was called Ndalama. Kumtaja was not a younger brother of Nalutumbo or
Kasobola, but a cousin of the latter. Ndalama was succeeded by a nephew, not the eldest
but the second son of a sister, the eldest having already succeeded to the chieftainship of
Kumtaja was therefore ineligible. The present Malemya will be succeeded by a grand-
nephew, the son of a daughter of his eldest sister, his sister having no sons.
A successor inherited all the wives and slaves of the deceased chief and all his goods
and chattels, guns, ivory and gardens. Any small possessions might be divided among the
deceased’s children and in the case of guns, those who had always used them often laid
claims not to be separated from their weapons; these claims were often allowed by the
new chief.
In the same way, any ordinary man’s successor is his nephew, the son of a sister, who
inherits all goods and chattels and slave wives, but not free-born wives, nor gardens, which
go to the free wives. Stock is generally divided among the children.
Before 1891, when a British Protectorate was formally declared over Nyasaland, each
chief ruled supreme. He was consulted as to the dates for Unyago; he directed the har-
vesting, etc.; he proclaimed war and generally was paramount among his people. It will
be seen, therefore, that he was a busy man, but he received no direct remuneration. His
wealth consisted of slaves and ivory. Slaves he obtained in warfare and as blood money,
1 Op. cit., vol. 1, p. 190.