Africans are renowned for having deeply ingrained cultural practices and beliefs, some of which can be cruel and bizarre. The Chewa's festival for the dead stands out as one of those customs that many find shocking.
The Chewa community is a Bantu tribe mostly found in Malawi. During the burial ceremony of a tribe member, it is customary for the body of the deceased to be washed.
The corpse is taken to a sacred place where the cleansing is done by slitting the throat of the dead and pouring water through the insides of the dead and extracted through the anterior region of the dead body .
The water is then collected and used to prepare a meal for the whole community as they believe that the dead has been cleaned up of his or her iniquities.
The entire village turns out when someone passes away. This is due to the Chewa belief that death is frequently brought on by witchcraft and is therefore rarely a natural occurrence.
The Chewa are afraid of attending funerals because they think that witchcraft primarily affects family members, thus those who may have killed someone would stay away.
Since it is required that every family member attend the funeral, the entire village usually goes because everyone is related.
Funerals, in their custom, are not only occasions to mourn; they are also enormous social gatherings when people gather to eat, drink beer, and socialize.
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