The Bullroarer Atlas

FROBENIUS1925-003 - ethnographic attestation

Longmo (Bokko / Voko; Longto language)

Cameroon - Voko - Gormaaya - Poli - Faro Department - North Region - Africa

Restricted

Representative—not this record’s object: Gabonese bullroarer with relief rib, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own...
Representative—not this record’s object: Gabonese bullroarer with relief rib, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own object is available yet. Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels (RMAH), inv. 1976.038-06 — via MIMO CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Image source

Uonatonajo / Wonatonajo German / Bokko term

Source term: Holzerne Schwirren

Uonatonajo / Wonatonajo: Bokko name for the wooden bullroarers; no literal gloss recovered

Among the Bokko, wooden Uonatonajo hung in a small household shrine called Nahurga. When they sounded at harvest, circumcision, or an old man's death, women were told that the dead fathers were crying for food and tobacco.

Die Bokko haben holzerne Schwirren und nennen diese Uonatonajo.

The Bokko have wooden bullroarers and call them Uonatonajo.

Frobenius 1925:120
Object
Wooden bullroarers hung in a small household shrine called Nahurga; no cord, perforation, blade shape, dimensions, or object figure is supplied.
Function
Sounded at harvest, circumcision, and an old man's death; women were told the dead fathers were asking for food and tobacco.
Map confidence
medium - Modern Voko/Gormaaya, capital of Canton Voko; representative settlement anchor matching Frobenius's Bokko/Longbo aliases, not an object findspot.
Source location
printed pp. 120-121

View source Open this point on the interactive map