The Bullroarer Atlas

BLENCH1987-001 - ethnographic attestation

Idoma

Nigeria - Idoma country, Otukpo, Benue State - West Africa

Restricted

The Guri itself — a softwood blade tapering to a point.
Representative — not this record’s object. · The Guri itself — a softwood blade tapering to a point Image source

ohumhum / ofumfum en

Source term: ohumhum = ofumfum (Blench 1987, tone-marked)

Among the Idoma the dead do not leave; they return as alekwu, ancestors present among the living, guardians of the lineages. Their society's bullroarer is a wooden plaque carved in the shape of a fish, and women are forbidden it. Around it stands the village's whole taxonomy of whirled sound: the cult plaque of the ancestors, the boys' copy knocked together from a school ruler, and the children's spinning disc — three noises, one secret.

Object
A fish-shaped wooden plaque bullroarer - a named, non-rectangular blade profile tied to a specific cult.
Function
Sounded by members of the alekwu ancestral society and forbidden to women. The alekwu are the returning dead of the Idoma lineages, present among the living in masquerade.
Map confidence
medium_high - Otukpo anchor for Idoma country, Benue State.
Source location
Page references

printed p. 49 (running head 'IDOMA MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 49' on a genuinely paginated PDF, rendered and read)

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