Dundurusu and Makeri

Overview

Dundurusu, whose name is glossed as Hammer, works as a blacksmith for the bori in Jan Gari. His performance kneels, sets one hand on the ground and strikes it with the opposite elbow three times before changing hands. Blowing and repeated outward and inward arm movements imitate bellows, followed by further hammering gestures. His announcement says he does not fear fire, and the song places him beside it throughout the night.

Tremearne then records Makeri, also called Sarikin Makera or Chief of the Blacksmiths, whose actions are similar and whom some informants identify with Dundurusu. Makeri’s song searches for bellows in the house and praises forging metal and making a sword. This paired profile retains both notices and their disputed relationship rather than counting an uncertain alias as another independent creature. The associated arm and hand pains are historical spirit attributions, not occupational diagnoses established by the account.

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. 352; 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. 352; complete attributed spirit notice and representation.

Family, evolution & connections

Yerima’s different Dundurusu parentage witness

Selected named notices in Tremearne’s 1914 historical Bori account, pp. 303–304.

The prince’s own entry explicitly names Dundurusu as father. The earlier Alhaji notice differs. The grouped target profile retains disputed Makeri identification; this branch names only Dundurusu, and does not assert two fathers or settle alias identity. This is source-specific religious genealogy, not biological descent or universal contemporary doctrine.

References

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

1. Digitized historical ethnographic accountTremearne — Dundurusu and MakeriResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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