The Bullroarer Atlas

DURAN1986-001 - ethnographic attestation

Ngarankulo beneath the kankurang's cries

The Gambia - Brikama, West Coast Region - West Africa

Restricted

A kankurang, the masked figure of Mandinka initiation, in red bark fibre.
Representative — not this record’s object. · A kankurang, the masked figure of Mandinka initiation, in red bark fibre. · CC BY-SA 4.0 Image source

ngarankulo

Source term: bullroarer

ngarankulo (Mandinka): the initiation bullroarer, a demon-spirit of the circumcision lodge.

At Brikama in April 1986 two voices of the Mandinka boys' initiation sounded together. One was the kankurang, a masked figure dressed partly in red bark, who holds two machetes, strikes the blades together and lets out high-pitched cries. The other was the ngarankulo, the bullroarer of the same initiations. Among the Mandinka the ngarankulo is a demon-spirit of the circumcision lodge, whirled at night to frighten the novices, who learn how it is made only near the end of their seclusion.

Object
A bullroarer, heard but not described.
Function
Sounded at Mandinka initiation ceremonies, here together with the kankurang masquerade.
Source
Duran 1986 bl c2 269
Source location
Page references

C2/269 (performance notes)

Source confidence
medium to high
Location note
Brikama town, West Coast Region (OSM/Nominatim), the catalogued recording location.

Regions: Africa · West Africa

View source Open this point on the interactive map