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CultureMalawi

In Malawi, a ritual is under threat from Christian preachers. Why?

By Madalitso Kateta
April 7, 2020
1651
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Gule Wamkulu is a treasured tradition that locals argue should be preserved. 

The Gule Wamkulu dance in session. Credit: Madalitso Kateta

The Gule Wamkulu dance in session. Credit: Madalitso Kateta

One sunny afternoon, Dzoole village in central Malawi is disturbed by three dancers. These masquerades’ faces are covered with wooden masks carved in the imitation of wild animals. They run around startling women, men and children. Their movements are frenzied, both feet digging into sand in quick succession and throwing up clouds of it. At intervals, they somersault onto the sand, all the while moving in unison then dart in different directions. Eventually they return to the ring of spectators that has formed since their arrival. Oftentimes, one of the masquerades breaks away to climb up a tree at great speed. 

To the (literally) uninitiated, this is the Gule Wamkulu (“Big Dance”), an important cultural expression among the Chewa people of Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. The masked dancers are regarded as a medium between the spirit world and the living. They also belong to a secret society. 

When initiated into this society, members are taught to speak in a coded language and become adherents of the Chewa tribe’s religion. Previously, membership was reserved for men who had given proof of their bravery and endurance. These days, even young boys from the ages of 8 to 10 may be enrolled, though they have to sacrifice formal school education to do so. The Gule Wamkulu was recognised by UNESCO as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity in 2005. 

But not everyone is so enamoured. The secret society and its practices are increasingly being challenged by religious groups.

“Everything that happens at the Gule Wamkulu camps is evil. The songs, the metaphors and myths that are shared are evil and encourage the use of magic and spiritism,” says Purity Chamatwa, a Pentecostal preacher in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe. 

He says that Christians sermons against the Gule Wamkulu are informed by the testimony of former initiates that have since embraced Christianity. Chamatwa considers the practices they described as pagan. 

This religious opposition to the local tradition has long roots in history. According to Chief Nkukula of Dowa district, early Christian missionaries campaigned against allegedly “evil rituals”. They urged people against engaging with the Gule Wamkulu, as many Christian preachers continue to do today.

As then, however, proponents of Gule Wamkulu stand their ground. They are vehemently opposed to what they see as foreign influences including Christianity and Western education. 

“Gule Wamkulu performances are a reminder of the laws given to us by our god (Chauta) through our ancestors,” says Nkukula. He says the tradition is an integral part of Chewa heritage and is beneficial to society at large. During the Gule Wamkulu initiation, for instance, he says that boys are taught how to respect each other and take care of their elders. 

Ezaius Mkandawire, a filmmaker and cultural activist, agrees. He believes that the Gule Wamkulu needs to be protected from the “cultural fallacies” created by Western influences. He stresses that this is necessary to help future generations understand their cultural identity.

“There is currently a cultural awakening that has made people realise that Western thinking is killing even the most important aspects that hold our society,” he says. 

Some people, however, feel both traditional and Western religion can coexist. Stanley Msonthi, a Chewa man, has managed to strike such a balance. He is a Western-educated Christian who continues to practice the Gule Wamkulu customs, but says some compromises may be necessary. 

“The continued existence of the Gule Wamkulu cultural expression hinges on the adoption of current religious understanding and getting rid of primitive aspects such as the anti-school attitude and the strong belief in witchcraft,” he says. 

Claude Boucher Chisale also believes the two practice are compatible. A Catholic priest from Canada, he was initiated into the Gule Wamkulu a few decades ago and given the name Chisale. In 1976, he founded the Kungoni Center for Culture and Art, which initially started out as a woodcarvers’ cooperative but soon grew to include an ethnographic museum on the Chewa, Yao and Ngoni peoples of Malawi. For over 40 years, Boucher has sought to create a dialogue between Christianity and Gule Wamkulu expressions, even fusing the latter in church practice. 

Despite some like Chisale and Msonthi believing the two cultures can co-exist, however, it appears that the conflict members of the secret society and Christianity will persist for the foreseeable future. The Gule Wamkulu masquerades continue to scare the uninitiated who oppose the tradition, while the determination of those who wish to preserve it only grows stronger. 

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Madalitso Kateta

Madalitso Kateta is a freelance journalist based in the Malawian Capital, Lilongwe. As a freelance journalist, Kateta has contributed to a number of international reputable media outlets including, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Climate Home News, Equal Times, The New Humanitarian and CBD-Intel among some. He specializes in developmental reporting, his core interest being in culture, gender and child rights, environmental and economics reporting.

4 comments

  1. Tobi 8 April, 2020 at 16:50

    Considering that the gist of the article questions the coexistence of Gule Wamkulu and Christianity, it would have been awesome had the author interviewed (and presented opinionated quotes) from the custodians of Gule Wamkulu on the subject. The trend so far, on authors that tackle this topic, is that they are quick to interview and present the opinions of Pastors and whatnot, but they never interview the custodians of Gule Wamkulu – as a primary source on the subject.

    Nevertheless, great article Mada! Keep up the good work.

  2. FRADECA 10 April, 2020 at 10:42

    Well, the Gule Wamkulu has a long history of being prohibited by several actors along the time and then resisting. In the issue 5 number 1 of the Journal of Global Slavery there is an article by Francesca Declich on the Gule secret society that traveled across countries over the last two centuries. “Codifying Memories through Film. Of Dance, Slaves, and Forced Migrants of the Past in the Western Indian Ocean”.
    https://brill.com/view/journals/jgs/5/1/article-p62_4.xml
    Shoud you have access through Universities’electronic libraries…Is worth having a look!

  3. Wavinya 12 April, 2020 at 15:27

    In these times, we will be forced to return to our origins. Our traditional medicine that boosted immunity, traditional food that has made use strong because it is nutritious. Why not also pray to our ans’ c’est it’s as they have our best interests at heart. Only Africans pray to other Gods nowadays, maybe that is why we are so oppressed and he laughing stock of the world. When Africa led the world, we prayed to our God. There was no community that did not believe in God, nor gave respect to their ancestors. The end of our culture was the beginning of mental slavery. Leave GuluWamkule alone, we need someone to pray for us.

  4. Doug Curran 13 April, 2020 at 14:56

    I spent a dozen years – and was fully initiated into the Chewa mask society -photographing the masks and rituals og Gule Wamkulu. Its name translates as “The Great Dance”, but also carries the name “Pempero Lalikulu” or “The Great Prayer”, which should fully inform anyone about its true underpinning and intentions. Fundamental to its practice is the understanding of the role of the ancestor spirits between the World of the Living and the World of the Dead/spirit world. Through the liminal space of Gule Wamkulu, there is a meeting between these two worlds where the ‘mwambo’ of cultural values are brought forward through the psycho drama of the dance to reinforce cultural values and traditions. It is a sad commentary on the oppression of traditional culture – long imposed on the Chewa by Christian missionaries and churches, is now actively suppressed, and perverted by the dogmatic ignorance of this new crop of evangelical ministries headed by evangelical Africans. It is another wave of extinction of a people’s own culture and values by foreigners looking to dominate others.

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