The Hidden Music of a Hidden People: The Case of Amakhuwa of Northern Mozambique

Abstract

Amakhuwa is an ethnic and linguistic group concentrated in the north of Mozambique. Although the largest ethnic group, it has been historically marginalized by the postcolonial Mozambican state for political reasons. This process of marginalization has also involved cultural aspects, such as music and dance. Amakhuwa musical traditions are differentiated, complex, and express common principles of a Emakhuwa epistemology. This epistemology and the performances and aesthetics it gives rise to are not fixed or timeless but have been evolving in accordance with different influences and historical periods. Influences from the ngoma competitive Swahili and Muslim musical traditions of East Africa are more visible in Emakhuwa music and dance on the coast, while in the interior territories, there is a prevalence of Bantu rhythms. Using postcolonial and decolonial writers as a base for the theoretical framework, this article highlights the epistemology involved in the different forms of Emakhuwa music and dance as well as the historical processes that led to their exclusion from Mozambican national culture.