Chewa

language of the Bantu language family

ethnic group

Senegalese musician

Zimbabwean sculptor

300px|thumb|A late 20th century wood, paint, feathers, metal and wool mask from the Chewa people in Malawi, collected by Laurel Birch de Aguilar for the British Museum Nyau (also: Nyao meaning mask or initiation) is a secret society of the Chewa, an ethnic group of the Bantu peoples from Central and Southern Africa. The Nyau society consists of initiated members of the Chewa people, forming the cosmology or indigenous religion of the people. Initiations are separate for men and for women, with different knowledge learned and with different ritual roles in the society according to gender and se