Human representatives of Mai-Lema’s companions including Ba-Jin-Chiwu in photograph55, 1914
The caption names Ba-Jin-Chiwu among the seated companions of Mai-Lema. Their dress and posture belong to a human representation documented in 1914. The original caption’s illness attributions are historical beliefs, not medical explanations.
Overview
Ba-Jin-Chiwu’s name is glossed as Not Feeling Ill, but Tremearne’s account credits him with sore ribs and internal pains. The author tentatively interprets the latter as gripes. His parentage is explicitly variable: one report calls him a son of Yerima, while another makes him a son of Sarikin Rafi. The alternative six-child foster-family list also includes him.
At the dance the performer walks around clutching the stomach and groaning, falls, sneezes and departs. A song section naming Kaura follows his own song. Tremearne uses the practice of mentioning older relations in a younger spirit’s performance to infer that the two are brothers; this is marked as the collector’s inference rather than an independently narrated genealogical episode. The depiction therefore combines a specific bodily performance with competing and interpreted kinship evidence.
Origins & earliest records
A. J. N. Tremearne records this member of the samari spirit class in his 1914 account, drawing on Hausa-associated Bori communities in North Africa and comparing Northern Nigerian reports. This passage does not name an individual narrator for this spirit. Its differing foster-family lists and regional comparisons are historical evidence, not a single uniform present-day genealogy.
Records & interpretation
The Ban of the Bori (1914), chapter XXVI, pp. 366, 370–371; comparison appendix pp. 482–486.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa
The Ban of the Bori (1914), chapter XXVI, pp. 366, 370–371; comparison appendix pp. 482–486.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Digitized historical ethnographic accountTremearne 1914 — Ba-Jin-ChiwuResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical ritual performance photographHuman representatives of Mai-Lema’s companions including Ba-Jin-Chiwu in photograph55, 1914
The caption names Ba-Jin-Chiwu among the seated companions of Mai-Lema. Their dress and posture belong to a human representation documented in 1914. The original caption’s illness attributions are historical beliefs, not medical explanations.