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Overview
Nana Hassana is described as daughter of an Arab spirit of Gwanja. Her distinctive attributed action is drinking victims’ blood, explained in the prose as making their blood turn white. Tremearne supplies anaemia as his own diagnostic gloss; the profile retains the narrated blood-taking explanation without treating that gloss as proof of a disease mechanism or identifying the spirit with actual people from Gwanja.
The song contrasts not having eaten the previous day’s meat with having drunk blood and pictures Hassana walking about with a small dish to collect it. The dance itself is simpler: the human mount moves around clapping, then sits and continues clapping. Distinguishing the song’s collection scene from the bodily performance prevents an invented claim that every mount physically collects human blood. Her spoken announcement states her own name.
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 XXVII, printed pp. 377–378; complete chapter read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa
Chapter XXVII, printed pp. 377–378; 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.
- Digitized historical ethnographic accountTremearne — Nana HassanaResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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