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Overview

Nana Ayesha Karama is said to be a grandchild of Yerima and to have a farm of her own. Her song greets the farm owner and corn grinder and calls her Daughter of the Claws, connecting scratching with pock marks. Tremearne attributes sore eyes and smallpox to her, but these are the account’s religious explanations rather than demonstrated disease causes. She is distinguished here from the older Nana Ayesha Baba of another chapter.

The representation wears white, red and pink body-cloths with a head-cloth on either side. It moves quickly, claps, waves cloth and then sits scratching, nodding and resting the head on a hand. Lack of sugar produces crying; receiving enough makes the figure lively again and sends her back around the ring. The notice thus has a particular exchange between gifts and represented behavior, while the source’s proposed ancestral origin for the wider group remains a conjecture.

Yerima’s grandchildCorn-grinding praiseSugar changes performance mood
01

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.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected notice in chapter XXVII, printed pp. 377; complete chapter 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

    Chapter XXVII, printed pp. 377; complete spirit notice and ritual representation.

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 accountTremearne — Nana Ayesha KaramaResearch 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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