Ba-Kabba

Overview

Ba-Kabba is described as Dubabi’s young full sister among the water spirits. Tremearne reports thirst and sore feet among the troubles associated with her, while adding his own suggestion about standing in water. Her offerings are compared with those of the Yayan Jidderi group. The notice gives no separate human life history or clearly described crocodile body.

Her representative first jumps around like a frog, then sits in the manner of the other water spirits. The author therefore proposes, rather than establishes, that she represents a frog. Her song instead likens her to a small dish in the Arifa’s house. Tremearne explains the image through a dish floating on stored water and used as a ladle. The profile preserves both the performed frog resemblance and the household-water image without making either a definite transformation scene.

Origins & earliest records

A. J. N. Tremearne combines interviews and descriptions of bori performances with comparative interpretation. These selected notices do not consistently name individual speakers; printed attributes are distinguished from his conjectures.

Records & interpretation

Complete selected spirit notice in chapter XXVIII, printed pp. 386–387; adjoining chapter context read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa

   A. J. N. Tremearne, collector and colonial-era interpreter · 1914

   XXVIII. Spirits of the Forest, Waters and Grove, pp. 386–387; ritual representation and attributed explanation.

Family, evolution & connections

Named water-spirit generations in Tremearne

Tremearne’s selected 1914 historical Bori notices, pp. 385–386.

Prose states Sarikin Rafi → Dodo Ibrahima → Dubabi; Ba-Kabba is expressly Dubabi’s full-sister. Ba-Kabba’s paternal branch follows the explicit full-sibling relation; no mother is named. Kadda and Baddo similarity is not converted into extra children. Rain and crocodile associations are performance/belief context, not zoological ancestry. These are attributed historical religious relationships, not biological phylogeny or a universal contemporary doctrine.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Digitized historical ethnographic accountTremearne — Ba-KabbaResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.