Ba-Toye

Overview

Ba-Toye is the Burner, a spirit that sets houses and forest alight and burns people. Tremearne explicitly says that he is not fire itself. He can run rapidly along the ground and up trees, and his announcement names the burned bush and forest of Jan Gari. These are the account’s stated actions; the collector’s comparison between his movement and flames is an interpretation of them.

The song identifies him among the hunters, calls him son of the dwarf, and says Uwar-Dowa bore him and suffered trouble from him. The prose names Gajere as father, while admitting confusion over whether that figure had once been identified with Kuri. At the dance the mount jumps up and down and moves the buttocks. Keeping the varying genealogy separate preserves both the damaging fire-setting role and the particular represented movements.

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 notice in chapter XXIV, printed pp. 350–351; chapter read through its ending.

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

   Chapter XXIV, printed pp. 350–351; complete attributed spirit notice and representation.

Family, evolution & connections

Ba-Toye’s named parents in one qualified witness

Tremearne’s selected 1914 historical Bori notices, pp. 350–351.

Prose explicitly names Gajere and Uwar-Dowa as parents; the song separately names the mother. Joint-parent root groups two individuals. The collector admits confusion over Gajere / Kuri identity; this tree retains Gajere rather than merging alternate names. Uwar-Dowa refers to the forest-aspect naming scope, not every Doguwa manifestation. 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-ToyeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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