Heritage

One of my goals for this trip was to learn about my ancestry and become more familiar with the African part of being an African American. While it wasn’t likely to learn about my specific ancestors (since my 23andme results indicate my genes originate mostly from Nigeria and West Africa), I appreciated how close Malawians identify with their ancestral identity and heritage.

            While we were leaving for Mumbo Island, we asked our guide if he was coming along, and he said he couldn’t because he’s afraid of water. I thought this was kind of peculiar and made me think about the American stereotype of black people not being able to swim. Out of curiosity, I asked him why he was afraid of water, and he proceeded to tell us a story about his ancestral tribe which was surprising because I thought he was going to tell a story about an experience that he had with water.

He talked about how his tribe, The Yao, who were very brolic and good at fighting were at war with a tribe that wasn’t good at fighting, The Ngoni, but were smart and good at swimming. When the Yao arrive to fight the Ngoni on their land, the Ngoni swam out to a sandbar and invited them to fight in the water. As the Yao jumped in and began to swim out to the sandbar, the Ngoni swam away, leaving the Yao to drown as they were over aggressive and jumped in without checking to see how deep the water was, unable to tell that the Ngoni were standing on a sandbar.

            I loved this story not only because it was entertaining, and Eddie, our guide, was a good storyteller, but because it made me happy that African people still remember and cherish their history. I don’t know much of my family’s history past the last few generations because my ancestors were brought over from Africa and had their identities stripped from them. Like many other African Americans, I don’t know much about my family history beyond the last few generations. Hearing Eddie’s story about his ancestors gave me a sense of pride and connection to my African heritage that I haven’t gotten to experience through stories about my family. This has inspired me to research the tribes that enslaved people from South Carolina originated from to continue this connection and learn more about my history.