Yao

The Yao are a major African people in the southeastern part of the continent. Their population spans southern Malawi, portions of Mozambique, and parts of Tanzania and Zambia. According to their oral traditions, the Yao are descended from people who left an area around a mountain that was called Yao, located east of Lake Malawi, in the 9th century because of famine and moved westward to the shores of Lake Malawi. By 2008, there were nearly 3 million Yao living in southern Africa.

The Yao's philosophy and culture have become intertwined with the extremely bountiful area in which they live. Lake Malawi is in the Great Rift Valley, and in some places it is one of the deepest lakes in Africa. The lake is the third largest lake in the continent and has more species of fish than any inland body of water anywhere in the world. More than 500 types of fish live in Lake Malawi. Given the fact that the Shire River flows from the lake and joins the mighty Zambezi River, the Yao people are often said to be the heartbeat of Africa. The magnificent landscape surrounding the lake creates rich proverbs, poetry, and rituals.

Although the Yao are mainly farmers, many are also fishermen, and some are called négociantes, that is, traveling salespersons, by the Mozambicans. This is because historically the Yao also traveled to the Indian Ocean coast to negotiate with Chinese, Indian, Portuguese, and Arab traders.

Years of interaction with the outside world have influenced the culture of the Yao to some extent, yet they retain the core values of their ancestors. For example, although many Yao are now Muslims, the Yao tradition tends to be matri-lineal as opposed to patrilineal. Thus, a group of sisters and their families may live with an elder brother or uncle and consider him their leader. Loyalty to the matrilineal family is greater in these cases than any loyalty to the “nuclear” family. It follows, therefore, that marriage would also be matrilocal, that is, a husband must live in the wife's town. This means that the husbands are considered strangers until their children grow to maturity and the people accept them as a part of the new family. Of course, due to the practice of Islam, many of the Yao men have more than one wife. This obviously makes life quite complex.

A leader serves over the matrilineal group. Sometimes a leader might exercise power over many matrilineages. Of course, someone who exercises authority over a number of leaders is a king. The king is the traditional authority over a limited area identified with the matrilineages he serves.

The Yao celebrate two important holidays. The first is called Unyago, which involves children ages 7 to 12, where the boys are circumcised, and the boys and girls are taught by gender what it means to be Yao. During the entire ceremony, where people are dressed up to enjoy themselves, the initiated children are not to smile. Their family members may sing, dance, laugh, and enjoy drinks and food, but the initiated must remain in control of their wants and desires. Although the initiated children remain unsmiling and somber, other children and adults bring them money and gifts.

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