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3 Calling the Bori Spirits: Hausa Fiddling in Nigeria Some of them, their intention is to go where the goge is played. They fail to return from where drums are played. In the other world they will pay, for they will be uprooted. —Shehu ‘Uthman dan Fodio, ca. 1770s1 Fiddling in northern Nigeria is most often identified with the Hausa,despite the fact that outsiders introduced it to the Central Sudan. Unlike the one-stringed fiddle’s roles among Senegambian Fulbe or the Dagbamba of Dagbon, the goge, or Hausa fiddle, does not symbolize ethnic identity nor does it represent high social status. The poem “Surely in Truth,” quoted above and written by Shehu ‘Uthman dan Fodio (1754–1817), a Fulbe scholar who led a jihad in Hausaland in the early nineteenth century, reveals the negative stance of Muslim leaders toward the goge during precolonial times. This, however, did not dislodge fiddling as a prominent musical tradition. While followers of Islam in Hausaland still consider fiddling to be profane, it is essential to the worship of those who practice Bori, a pre-Islamic African religion involving spirit possession. Fiddling is also popular among women and among individuals regarded by some Muslims as social outcasts (Danfulani 1999). A study of Hausa fiddling, therefore, not only demonstrates what happens to a tradition when it comes into conflict with those in authority, but also affirms the resilience of precolonial cultural practices in modern Hausa society. Moreover, although Hausa migration in the Sudan has not been as extensive as that of the Fulbe, Hausa speakers have had contacts with many West Africans. As a result, the Hausa have played a major role in the dispersion of the fiddle among people living in neighboring regions. The Goge in Performance Although the goge is performed in a number of contexts in Hausaland, one of the most common is the religious worship of Bori spirits (iskoki). Before the introduction of Islam between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries ce, the Bori religion was practiced under the direction of a differentiated priesthood. Islam, however, has been the official state religion since the reign of the Hausa king Muhammad Rumfa (ca. 1463–1499) and most urban Hausa now accept Islamic beliefs—yet some of them incorporate spirit possession in their religious practice (Besmer 1972/1973:1, 1974, 1983; Ingawa 1974), and Bori con- 104 Fiddling in West Africa tinues to be the dominant religion in rural areas of northern Nigeria.2 During the 1960s and 1970s, fiddle music could also be heard in nightclubs in various cities in northern Nigeria.3 I have had the opportunity to observe fiddling in both contexts, and although the two arenas might initially seem to be nearly diametrically opposed, a close examination of performances in each suggests some interesting connections. In February of 1974 I attended the Argungu Annual Fishing and Cultural Festival in northern Nigeria. This festival originated to commemorate the first friendly visit of a reigning Sultan of Sokoto—the religious leader of all Muslims in northern Nigeria—to Argungu in 1934. The sultan’s visit served as a gesture of unity between the rival political states of Sokoto and Argungu, and its annual celebration attracted fishermen from the two locales, as well as neighboring areas. The Argungu festival initially resembled precolonial festivities marking the ending of the harvest and the beginning of the fishing season, but by 1974 it had become a national cultural event and tourist attraction organized by Nigeria’s Commission for Information, Cultural and Social Development.4 People from throughout Nigeria and beyond traveled to Argungu not only to enjoy the friendly atmosphere, entertainment, and competition at the tourist resort but also to meet and interact with men and women from other African countries (“Argungu” 1974). Unlike religious and cultural festivals that I had observed in northern Ghana—where most of those in attendance were local residents of towns and villages—the Argungu festival was nearly pan-African in its scope and importance in Nigeria. The festival of 1974 generated special enthusiasm because Nigerian government officials saw it as a prelude to the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, scheduled to take place in the Nigerian capital of Lagos from November to December 1975. In addition to music performances by groups from Argungu, other parts of Nigeria, and neighboring Niger, a national motor rally was added to the festivities, with drivers starting in Ibadan in southwest Nigeria and traveling through many of the country...

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