Masakin (Mesakin, Nuba)

Source term: leurre

At Tadoro in the Nuba Mountains, at Christmas 1962, a German film team recorded something the bullroarer literature rarely shows: girls' work. Masakin girls of eight to twelve made the toy themselves — a flat wooden blade carved and drilled near one end, strung on cotton cord twisted from a ball, tied to a springy switch — and jerked it into circling sweeps until it whined. The film calls it simply a 'leurre,' a lure; its Masakin name is lost. No men's cult, no secrecy: a girl's own instrument, on film.

Ein Mädchen schnitzt ein flaches, längliches Schwirrholz, dreht aus einem Knäuel Baumwolle eine Schnur und befestigt das Schwirrholz damit an einer Gerte. Stehend spielt es mit dem fertiggestellten Spielzeug, das es ruckweise in kreisende Bewegungen versetzt. Dabei werden leise, surrende Laute erzeugt.

A girl carves a flat, elongated bullroarer, twists a cord from a ball of cotton, and uses it to fasten the bullroarer to a switch. Standing, she plays with the finished toy, setting it jerkily into circling motions. In doing so, faint whirring sounds are produced.

IWF film E694, "Masakin (Ostafrika, Kordofan) - Herstellen eines Spiel-Schwirrholzes" (1964), catalogue description, Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek

Particulars

Object

End-holed flat wooden blade (carved), about 20 x 6 cm, hole drilled ~4 cm from one end; strung on a twisted-cotton cord fastened to a springy switch. Filmed 24-25 December 1962 at Tadoro; IWF ethnographic film 'Herstellen eines Spiel-Schwirrholzes' (E 694, released 1964).

Function

Made and played by Masakin girls aged 8-12 at Tadoro; whirled to a whining note. A girls' toy — notable against the men's-cult weight of the African bullroarer literature.