Pové bupoti, guarding the pregnant

joambila; bupoti

Source term: rhombe; joamiala

joambila, bupoti: Pové names for the bullroarer. joamiala: the inventory's general name for the instrument.

Among the Pové of central Gabon the bullroarer stood guard over the unborn. Whirled on its cord until it droned, the blade they called joambila or bupoti was sounded in a rite that protected pregnant women from sorcerers. It was once cut from a bar of iron; the Pové gave that up as too dangerous and made it instead from a strip of bamboo. They live in the forests west of Koulamoutou, between the Lolo and the Ogooué, where elders say people in the mountain protect them still, and where part of the forest is closed to women and to all who have not been initiated.

chez les Pové, usage rituel pour protéger les femmes enceintes contre les sorciers

among the Pové, ritual use to protect pregnant women against sorcerers

Mbendje, 'Joamiala (Le Rhombe)', Bantoozone 2016, after the LABAN inventory

Particulars

Object

A blade on a cord, whirled to drone; once an iron bar, later a strip of bamboo.

Function

Among the Pové, used ritually to protect pregnant women against sorcerers.