BLENCH1987-001 - ethnographic attestation
Idoma ohumhum, fish-shaped plaque of the alekwu dead
Nigeria - Idoma country, Otukpo, Benue State - West Africa
Restricted
ohumhum / ofumfum
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.
- Source
- Roger Blench, 'Idoma musical instruments,' African Music 6/4 (1987): 42-52; section IV Aerophones / 2. Free aerophones; Open-access PDF also served by the journal (journal.ru.ac.za)
- Source location
Page references
printed p. 49 (running head 'IDOMA MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 49' on a genuinely paginated PDF, rendered and read)
- Source confidence
- medium to high Otukpo anchor for Idoma country, Benue State.
Discussed in: The Living Double
- Spirit voice
- Forbidden to women