The Muani
The Muani are mainly fishermen, and are found exclusively in coastal settlements. Tradition is matrilineal, but this matrilineality has been sublimated to some degree by the Islamic influence of the past 500 years. It is not always clear when and how women can exert the power that matrilineality confers.
The population around Ibo is Kimwani speaking (a language related to Swahili, but not mutually understandable), with up to 20 percent of the population able to speak a little Portuguese. Kimuani means ‘the language spoken by four peoples – Swahili, Jawa, Nyanga, and Macua – the slavers’ tongue mixed with the tongues of those they enslaved.
A large Muani village, Paquitequete, was the original settlement around which Pemba was built. It remains a colourful and distinctive bairro (neighbourhood) next to the oldest part of the Portuguese town, where dhows daily land fish, coconut palm thatch and poles from the islands. Visit it on foot.
