cluster of people called the Makhuwa who live to
the north. According to their traditions, the
Lomwe originated in northern Mozambique and
have no further origin myths. Thus, they are not
said to have emigrated from the North or the
South. However, some scholars believe that they
probably came from the Rift Valley regions far-
ther north on the African continent sometime over
the past 1,000 years.
Much of the Lomwe culture is dependent on
the climate, environment, and animals found in
their region. They are peasant farmers, for the
most part, who do not have large towns or vil-
lages. Their villages tend to be based on the family
compound and are related to the harvesting of
food. The climate is tropical with hottest temper-
atures being in November–December and the
lowest temperatures being in June–July. The rains
come in October and last until March.
Given this type of weather and climate, the
Lomwe have come to rely on the consistency of
the weather for planting and harvesting, as well as
for the construction of houses out of the mud
bricks reinforced by grass. Having adapted well to
the environment, the rural Lomwe usually cook in
kitchens that are outside and not inside the house.
They eat corn that can be pounded into powder
and served as cakes once it is cooked. They usu-
ally season this food with greens and peanuts or
chicken. The Lomwe have developed a stable
approach to their natural environment through
many years of political and social instability.
The Lomwe believe in a Supreme Being who is
the creator of all things on the Earth. However,
the ancestors and the spirits of the Earth are held
to control their ordinary and daily activities.
These are spirits that may be influenced by
people’s actions or inactions. They are not manip-
ulated, as some Western writers have inferred, no
more than the Western God is manipulated by
humans praying or having worship ceremonies;
the deities, spirits, and ancestors are appealed to
on the basis of human needs and desires. They
must be remembered in daily or annual cere-
monies as a form of piety.
For example, children must be obedient to
their parents, respectful of the rituals, and dili-
gent in remembering the ancestors to be well
thought of within the Lomwe society. All children
belong to the matrilineal line because a child
belongs to his uncle and his mother’s uncle, not to
his father or his father’s family. In this way, the
Lomwe retain the matrilineality that one sees in a
majority of African families.Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoAncestors; HarvestFurther Readings
Asante, M. K. (2007).The History of Africa. London:
Routledge.
Lindgren, N. E., & Schoffeleers, J. M. (1985).Rock Art
and Nayu Symbolism in Malawi. Limbe, Malawi:
Malawi Government, Department of Antiquities.
Ntara, S. J. (1973).The History of the Chewa(W. S.
Kamphandira Jere, Trans.). Wiesbaden, Germany:
Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH.
Pachai, B. (Ed.). (1972).The Early History of Malawi.
London: Longman.
Pachai, B. (1973).Malawi:History of the Nation.
London: Longman.
Rafael, B. R. (1985).A Short History of Malawi. Limbe,
Malawi: Montfort Press.LOVEDU
The Lovedu, a Bantu people, live in the Transvaal,
an area in northern South Africa. According to
their oral traditions, they settled in that particular
location as a result of the migration south of a
small number of Karanga people, from
Zimbabwe, in the 17th century. The Karanga
people, who were great traders, had created a
great empire from about 1000 to 1600 AD. They
smelted gold and traded it on the shores of the
Indian Ocean for glass beads and porcelain from
China. When they settled in the Transvaal, how-
ever, the Karanga, now Lovedu people, developed
a subsistence economy primarily based on agricul-
ture and cattle-rearing.
There are several stories about the reason that
the Lovedu came into existence. According to one,
the King’s son took with him some people as he was
fleeing his father’s kingdom after receiving rain
charms. In another version, it is the king’s daughter
who, having engaged in incestuous intercourse with384 Lovedu