Kolonkadhi odila over the cutting

odila; omangololi (“rattlers,” the Bird)

Source term: bullroarer; bull-roarers

odila: the etanda bullroarer (in Kwanyama the general word for bird). omangololi: “rattlers,” the Uukolonkadhi name used in place of ezila, the Big Bird of circumcision. etanda: boys’ circumcision.

When Kolonkadhi boys were circumcised at etanda, the odila hummed over the cutting: a flat blade of wood or metal on a cord tied to a stick, swung round and round so that women and children kept away and no one heard the boys cry out. The Kolonkadhi did not speak the Big Bird’s name. They called it omangololi, “the rattlers.” Later in the rite the roles reversed, and the initiated boys took over the bullroarers and played them themselves before they left the camp to travel across the country.

The humming sound was to keep the women and children away and to drown the cries of the boys during the operation.

Löytty 2012, p. 46, after Norborg 1987, p. 292

Particulars

Object

Flat blade of wood or metal on a cord fastened to a stick, swung round; described for the etanda rite of the Owambo kingdoms, not from a measured Kolonkadhi specimen.

Function

Swung during boys’ etanda circumcision to keep women and children away and to drown the boys’ cries; later in the initiation the boys took over the bullroarers and played them.