The Bullroarer Atlas

No. MBENDJE2016-001

Banzèbi roarer of the Chaillu hills

Gabon · Southern Massif du Chaillu, Ngounié and Ogooué-Lolo (Koulamoutou–Pana to Mbigou–Lébamba) · Central Africa

Restricted

Pointed iron Tadogbel blade with a small lug at its broad end
Plate I. Representative — not this record’s object. Pointed iron Tadogbel blade with a small lug at its broad end Image source

Source term: rhombe; joamiala

joamiala: the inventory's heading name for the Gabonese rhombe; the Banzèbi word is not recorded. bongoja: the secret truth-finding dance at which the instrument sounds.

Spun round on its cord, a wooden blade the length of a hand gives a drone meant to frighten. Among the Banzèbi, as among their Mahongwé, Bekwil and Pové neighbours, it sounded at bongoja, a secret dance held to get at the truth; while it lasted, anyone with no part in the matter stayed indoors. The Banzèbi live in the steep forest of the southern Chaillu massif, under peaks above a thousand metres, from Koulamoutou down to Mbigou and across the border into Congo. Their account of how the world began is the story of the seven sons of Nzèbi.

Particulars

Object
A wooden blade about 15 cm long on a cord, whirled to give a drone.
Function
Shared with the Mahongwé, Bekwil and Pové: frightens by its noise and is sounded at the secret bongoja dance, held to get at the truth, while anyone not concerned stays at home.

Sources

  1. Brice Emery Mbendje, 'Joamiala (Le Rhombe): instrument de musique traditionnelle', Bantoozone (2016), after the LABAN inventory, Université Omar Bongo View
  2. Gérard Collomb, 'Les sept fils de Nzèbi. Un mythe cosmogonique des Banzèbi du Gabon', Journal des Africanistes 49(2) (1979), pp. 89–134 View

Part of The Bullroarer Atlas, companion to The Eve Theory of Consciousness.