Large numbers of labour migrants who travelled to work in the mines and farms of central and southern Africa were drawn from the Northern Province of Malawi; in some parts of the region up to 70% of the male population were away from their home during the 1940s, working for ...
(Show more)Large numbers of labour migrants who travelled to work in the mines and farms of central and southern Africa were drawn from the Northern Province of Malawi; in some parts of the region up to 70% of the male population were away from their home during the 1940s, working for wages elsewhere.
The Hewe Valley, which lies on the northwest border with Zambia, was an area from where significant numbers of migrant workers came. In addition to this it was one of the main places of departure for men who were recruited by the Witswatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA) from across the northern region and it became a customary resting point for others who were trekking across the border and on to the Copperbelt in Zambia.
An otherwise ‘remote’ place, Hewe is geographically isolated from surrounding communities. It lies at the bottom of a steep escarpment and is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It was the airstrip that was established by WNLA that saw the area suddenly become a recognised recruitment point and it was this base that formed the heart of Hewe’s trading centre Chiteshe, which takes its name from a local word which means ‘station’.
My paper will present some of the economic opportunities and social possibilities that this site provided to the community of Hewe and its surrounding area. I will look at the impact that this centre and the transient community of migrant workers who passed through it had on the local landscapes of power in Hewe, in particular with regard to the chieftaincy of Katumbi, the recognised Native Authority in the valley.
My presentation will place this social history of a relatively small community in northern Malawi within the broader historical context of a growing African Nationalism and atmosphere of ambiguity about the role of chiefs. It will attempt to understand its impact by considering the rapid social and economic change that was bringing about wider transformations in the region.
Labour migration affected Hewe in a number of very significant ways: the absence of large numbers of men changed agricultural patterns; certain individuals, particularly those who had had the advantage of a Livingstonia education as the mission was located very nearby, became wealthy; others had experiences which would shape their future investments and behaviour. The impact that the indirect infrastructures of recruitment and transport had on such communities, however, is less obvious. This is what my paper seeks to highlight.
(Show less)