{"id":"HARRIS1938-001","label":"Dakarkari bull-roarer, the Voice of Magirro","people_or_site":"Dakarkari (Lelna; C'Lela)","country_current":"Nigeria","historic_region":"Kebbi, north-western Nigeria (Sokoto Province under British administration)","macroregion":"Africa / West Africa","local_name":"","source_term":"bull-roarer","source_language":"English","object_description":"Bullroarer; material, dimensions and physical form unrecorded.","function_summary":"Voice of Magirro, interpreted to announce rain, guinea corn, rice, births and good hunting. Accompanied processions around open graves at funerals of important men and the priest’s wife. Women were kept away from the ceremonies.","attestation_type":"ethnographic_attestation","source_key":"harris1938_dakarkari","source_type":"ethnographic_attestation","source_url":"https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027597213","page_or_plate":"JRAI 68 (1938), pp.127–128,146","map_confidence":"medium","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Regional anchor for Dakarkari country in Kebbi, north-western Nigeria; no village-level locality is given.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"Among the Dakarkari of Kebbi the drumming stopped when the bull-roarer started. Its sound came from inside, and it was the voice of Magirro. At funerals the priest, chief and elders walked from Magirro’s house to the open grave, drums and the droning blade accompanying them; they circled the grave and returned. Magirro honored important men, especially those who had given dogs to his priest. The priest’s wife alone among women received this funeral honor. Women of the household still had to keep away, even when she was the one being buried.","pull_quote":"...the Voice of Magirro, is heard from the inside, whereupon the drumming stops. The Sarkin Zaure interprets to the assembly what Magirro is pleased to say, the usual remarks being that Magirro has brought rain, Guinea corn and rice, the birth of children...","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"Harris, JRAI 68 (1938), p. 128.","term_gloss":"Magirro - the being whose voice the bull-roarer is. Sarkin Zaure - the officiant who interprets Magirro's speech to the assembly (a Hausa title in use among the Dakarkari).","cls":"restricted","class_label":"Restricted","color":"#A43C2F","is_candidate":false,"flags":["spirit_voice","death_rebirth","women_taboo","women_special","agriculture","weather"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":true,"f_women_special":true,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"P. G. Harris, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 68 (1938), pp. 127-128 and 146","url":"https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027597213"}],"source_citations":"P. G. Harris, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 68 (1938), pp. 127-128 and 146","source_display":"P. G. Harris, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 68 (1938), pp. 127-128 and 146","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Bullroarer; material, dimensions and physical form unrecorded.","function_display":"Voice of Magirro, interpreted to announce rain, guinea corn, rice, births and good hunting. Accompanied processions around open graves at funerals of important men and the priest’s wife. Women were kept away from the ceremonies.","confidence_display":"medium","attestation_label":"ethnographic attestation","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"dakarkari lelna","display_name":"Dakarkari bull-roarer, the Voice of Magirro","image":{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/SUBSAH-003_prm_1922_67_2.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/thumbs/SUBSAH-003_prm_1922_67_2_thumb.jpg","alt":"Igbo wooden bullroarer collected by P. Amaury Talbot: a long dark tapered blade with fibre cord wrapped around its middle.","credit":"Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford (1922.67.2)","license":"© Pitt Rivers Museum — non-commercial/educational reuse with attribution","source_page":"https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39578","rehosted":true,"representative":true,"caption":"Igbo wooden bullroarer with its attached cord, Pitt Rivers Museum 1922.67.2.","pool_id":"auto-review_2026_07_15--SUBSAH-003_prm_1922_67_2","auto_assigned":true},"slug":"harris1938-001-dakarkari-lelna-c-lela"}