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 and Nyanja people, forming the cosmology or indigenous religion of the people. women, with different knowledge learned and with different ritual roles in the society according to gender and seniority. Nyau societies operate at the village level, a wide network of Nyau in Malawi.