Swahili Culture

Swahili Culture is a mix of various traditions, religions, local beliefs and commercial contacts. Food, dress and language are all similar along the coast and in the islands. The women wear colourful kangas with proverbs printed on them. In this way, she can subtly let her husband know what she thinks, or give him a public chastising.

Families are large, and are centred around the eldest man of an extended family (Mzee).  The family includes his wives, his brothers and their wives, and all their children. Sisters and daughters move out when they marry, to live with their husband's extended family. When trouble occurs, such as divorce, hunger, mourning or death, she returns to her father’s home.

She always keeps the right to the harvest of his extended family’s coconut trees, and survival is thus based on a patriarchic lineage.

A husband and wife more often then not, choose each other for economical reasons, especially in the villages. Many men have a number of wives and these form a considerable working force. For a woman, the eldest women in a family group have a leading and advising role, but only in private; the men and the Mzee make decisions and run public life.

Of course, there are degrees to this: not every Swahili lives in the same way. This is a description of a more traditional Swahili lifestyle.

Women and men lead a segregated life. Certain tasks are performed only by women whilst others are the domain of the man. They do interact, but tasks related to food and guests are dealt with by women while men deal with problems and work.  Public life is mainly male dominated, although this is rapidly changing in some places.
 

The Swahili culture has many Bantu African characteristics. Some are relics of the days before the Arabs came to trade, while others are inherited from the Bantu slaves that stayed behind in great numbers.

The belief in Witchcraft is widespread on Pemba , and the island was long known as a home of famous and feared witchdoctors. Still an interesting mixture is found.  For example, both hospital and witchdoctor are visited. If one does not work, certainly the other one will! When a death or theft occurs a Pemban will seek both the police and the witchdoctor out for advice or action; one can never be sure how unexpected misfortune entered one’s life!

The popular local story of the "popabauwa" may well originate from the early slave days: a pale skinned ghost, looking like a woman’s husband, comes in the night and silences the husband. He then abuses her (she thinks it is the husband) and sometimes him as well and disappears to the next house and village. The only protection is to sleep outside your house and make as much noise as you can every hour or so. Many people speculate about the origin of this story: slavers raiding villages, taking men away, the pale skin. In 1997 a mass hysteria broke out and the whole population of Stone Town slept outside on the streets and the barazas for weeks! Only when the elders (mzee) decided the "popabauwa" had moved on, did people dare to sleep inside again. These strong local beliefs coexist quite happily with western ideas.

Food is another major cultural issue: who eats with whom, when, what, etc. At home, the women cook, usually three meals a day. Rice made with coconut milk, fish or meat curry, beans and millet are staple foods. The women serve the men and in most households either eat separately, or after the men have finished. If in rare cases a woman joins the men, she is last in the ranking. Water to wash your hands is passed around, and the sequence of using the water is strict. Women and children are last and get the smallest morsels of fish. The Fisheye is saved for either the guest, or the highest ranking person.

Story telling is a beloved part of  Swahili life, and almost every question and discussion can easily turn into a long story with ample side tracks and repetitions. Both Arab and African cultures have a strong oral tradition. Arabs were the first literate people to settle or visit Pemba and the islands, however the ability to read and write was reserved for the upper classes or the traders. Arabs are known for their stories and poetry, and these soon became incorporated in the Swahili mix of cultures. But for the Swahili who could not read or write,  memory was vital. This is the role of the elderly: to remember, not only your own history, but also rules, teachings, examples, people, ancestries, songs and poetry. Anything important will be repeated over and over again, until you remember. Still today, a simple shopping list is, with enormous speed, spoken out aloud, time and time again, until there is no mistake: whatever needs to be bought, from whom, for how much, even the change is calculated and noted in advance! Gossip is passed from person to person in the same way and one juicy titbit will take about an hour to relay. A simple "yes" or "no" or a quick summary of the facts,  is not easy for a Swahili. There is simply so much more to say, all part of the art of relaying a story!

The beautiful part here is, that one can go to a village, and ask any old mzee to tell a story, which is considered a completely normal thing; old men tell stories!  Wonderful tales will emerge which explain the world, life, rules, names, anything.
And, they have been told for centuries !