Kouroumba Yoro atongu dry-season bullroarer

atongu

Source term: Rhombe

atongu: the vernacular name for the whole boat-toy.

At Yoro, boys made the bamboo atongu in the dry season. The hollow little object could be a boat and a toy on the ground, then take another life in the air as they whirled it overhead. It was part of children's play, not the community's circumcision rites.

Les enfants le font tournoyer au-dessus de leur tête et s'en servent aussi comme d'un rhombe.

The children whirl it above their heads and also use it as a bullroarer.

Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, 71.1939.39.30

Particulars

Object

Hollow bamboo-stem boat/toy form, 29 x 2.4 x 2.2 cm and 12 g, with one cord attached at one end.

Function

Made by boys during the dry season, whirled above the head, and also used as a bullroarer; explicitly not used at circumcision.