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

Overview

Yakoba is introduced as a mysterious spirit named after a former chief of Bauchi and also called Yam-Yam or Yem Yem. Tremearne thinks he appears doubled but records that this is denied. The song addresses Yakoba while speaking of leaving meat and blood for Yam-Yam. The notice therefore gives uncertain overlapping names, not secure evidence for two independently indexed spirits.

The spirit is described as cannibalistic. During the dance his representative looks for meat, and if none is offered starts biting his own hands. Other song language invokes Arzikki Boboniya and describes Yakoba as terrifying to Gwari. The bull image belongs to the praise rather than a narrated bovine body. The brief account supplies a represented appetite and unsettled identity, while leaving the named chief’s biography and any historical person-to-spirit change unexplained.

Cannibal characterMeat-seeking performanceBiting hands when unfedYam-Yam identity uncertainty
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 spirit notice in chapter XXVIII, printed pp. 387–388; adjoining chapter context 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

    XXVIII. Spirits of the Forest, Waters and Grove, pp. 387–388; ritual representation and attributed explanation.

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 — YakobaResearch 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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