32 african appropriations
the pantheon of bori spirits early on, they acted according to the logic of a
typical cult of affliction: during the 1990s, they were the source as well as
the remedy for serious afflictions and mundane problems alike, which were
somehow associated with local modernity, and they enabled their adepts
to make a living by performing as their vessels during public possession
dances and administering “medicines” to clients during private consulta-
tions. W hat these di fferent for ms have in common is that they ma ke use of
alterity to articulate and legitimize certain functions of the self.
REWIND: NIGER 1925–1927The early Babule spirits manifested themselves in southwestern Niger
during a period marked by the intensification of French colonial rule.
Since the turn of the century, Kurfey and Arewa, the two neighboring
Hausaphone regions that were to produce particular strongholds of Ba-
bule followers, had each experienced dramatic political and economic
changes. In search of traditional rulers who would help govern the peasant
population, the French had installed “district chiefs,” or chefs de canton,
among people who hitherto had had no dealings whatsoever with central-
ized political institutions, such as the egalitarian Kurfeyawa, or expanded
the power of traditional political authorities which had formerly been
checked by a fragile system of power sharing, such as in Arewa (Fuglestad
1975; Latour 1992). In both regions, the new local authorities had proven
to be particularly efficient helpers of the French. They had helped fight
revolts, forcefully recruited men to serve in the French army during World
War I and as laborers for construction work, exacted aliments, and levied
taxes (Echard 1992: 96; Fuglestad 1975: 211). In 1925, such coercions be-
came even more burdensome when the French decided to develop Nia-
mey, which would become Niger’s administrative capital. To realize their
plans they needed manpower, foodstuffs, and animals for transportation,
all of which they exacted particularly from the regions near Niamey. The
Babule spirits first made their presence felt in Tudu Anza, a village of the
Arewa region (Echard 1992) during the dry season of 1925.
In that village, a woman called Shibo became possessed by an un-
known female spirit who turned out to be Batura (female European).