the wicked major 43world, the ‘religion of the force,’ which—born in a tiny village of Niger—
has found its true terrain in the Gold Coast” (my translation). Elsewhere,
he estimates that at least 30 percent of up to 100,000 Nigerien migrant
laborers, who went to Ghana each year, were Hauka mediums, “but all the
others were followers, ‘the faithful,’ who were there every Saturday and
Sunday seeing an entertainment which was better than cinema” (Rouch
1978: 1007). The quick and successful implantation of the cult into the life
of the immigrant communities was due to the charismatic personality of
Ousmane Fodé, a Zerma who had gone to the Gold Coast much earlier in
the century and had fought in the British army during World War I. Him-
self possessed by Dongo, the Zerma spirit of thunder and lightning, who
was considered to be the Hauka’s host among the traditional spirits (Rouch
1960), Fodé became the chief priest (zima) of the Gold Coast Hauka medi-
ums. According to Rouch (1956), his prestige among the immigrants was
so great that he even installed a huge number of local chiefs within the
Zerma community of Ghana. During Fodé’s time, the cult of the Hauka
seemed to become fa r more i nst it ut iona l i zed t ha n ever before. R it ua ls were
refined and places of worship fixed, sacrifices took place each Friday, and
possession dances were held on Sundays. Even during the week, Hauka fol-
lowers were ex pected to comply w it h cer ta i n r u les, such as wea r i ng proper
clothing, staying away from fights, and sharing their money (Rouch 1956).
To me, this reads as if some of the utopian elements of the early Hauka
movement had finally become reality in the Ghanaian diaspora.
Even though this golden age of the Hauka had already passed when
Jean Rouch shot Les maîtres fous (The mad masters), his film presents a
vivid picture of Hauka rituals.^3 Filmed in and around Accra in 1953, the
documentary follows a group of Hauka mediums from Accra as they per-
form an annual ritual that takes place outside of the city in the compound
of Mountyéba, a cocoa farmer who is their chief priest. The compound is
decorated with rags called Union Jack. There is a termite hill painted in
black and white called the Governor’s Palace and in front of the hill is a
wooden sculpture representing the Governor, with mustache, saber, rifle,
and miniature horses. The ritual commences with public confessions by
those who have sinned against the Hauka. One medium confesses that he
has had sex with a friend’s wife, another pleads guilty to “never washing
and never dressing elegantly,” and a third to having flashes of apostasy: