Kura, the hyena that calls dogs

KURA

Source term: bull-roarer

Etymology. Hausa kūrā, 'hyena': the Katsina hunters' whirled dog-call carries the beast's name.

Among Hausa hunters around Katsina, the kura was a dog-call: a length of guinea-corn stalk, perforated and whirled on a string to summon the pack for the hunt. Its name means 'hyena.' It entered the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1933 alongside corn-stalk clarinets, tsiriki, that served the same purpose.

tsiriki of corn-stalk with open ends and reed cut near one end to blow horizontally, used as dog-calls in hunts, Hausa, Sokoto; kura of corn-stalk, perforated and whirled on a string, used as above, Hausa (Katsina)

Pitt Rivers Museum Annual Report 1933–34 (donation of P. G. Harris; PRM acc. 1933.69.3)

Particulars

Object

Bull-roarer of the Hausa, collected by Percy Graham Harris at Katsina, northern Nigeria; Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford (acc. 1933.69.3).

Function

Hunting dog-call: a corn-stalk instrument whirled on a string to call dogs; no ritual function stated.