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

Overview

Dafo, also called Sarikin Makadda, is the chief of the bori drummers and supervisor of spirit musicians. The report associates him with injuries to the arms that prevent playing. Tremearne suggests cramp as an explanation and an ancestral origin for the spirit, but neither is established in the passage.

His representative moves and hops in the dancing ring, striking the left breast with the right hand while the other hand acts as if adjusting an instrument’s tone. His spoken role covers drumming for youths and elders. The musicians’ song asks forgiveness and names successive instruments, including the small, hourglass-shaped and kettle drums. This gives him a specific place in the ritual’s musical organization without providing a narrated human ancestor’s life.

Chief of drummersSupervises spirit musiciansBody-drumming performanceInstrument-naming song
01

Origins & earliest records

A. J. N. Tremearne reports interviews and ritual performances during four months in North Africa, alongside comparisons to Nigeria. His foreword credits local assistance and photography but these passages do not identify an individual speaker for every statement.

02

Records & interpretation

The Ban of the Bori, chapters XXI–XXII, complete selected account pp. 315–316; foreword pp. 13–14 and catalog publication date checked.

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

    Chapters XXI–XXII, pp. 315–316; role descriptions, performed representation and attributed explanations.

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.

  1. Digitized historical ethnographic account with interviews and performance descriptionsTremearne — DafoResearch access: 2026-10-05
  2. Library catalog metadataInternet Archive catalog — The Ban of the BoriResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

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