Noces de feu (1968) Nicole Echard

A few Hausa blacksmiths from Ader in Niger still traditionally make iron ore. Boubé Mainassara, blacksmith “son of men“, is the “master of the iron camp“. At sunset, he goes into the bush to find a work area where the low hearths will be built. He oversees all the preparations (slaughtering of firewood, coal mining, weaving of ore and charcoal transport baskets, ore extraction, etc.) and participates in rituals intended to promote the reduction of iron ore. After the manufacture of the nozzles using a mould, and that of the lower hearths, each of these, considered as a young bride, is deflowered by the drilling of ventilation holes in the wall. The hearth of the device is dug into the ground. It is the “nuptial box“ where the young bride is brought: the chimney is installed on the pipes surrounding the hearth. The reduction takes place at night, the metal burls being conceived as the daughters of the alliance of the metallurgist and the lower hearth. The metal is tested by making an agrarian tool blade. Complementary document to the film “Blacksmiths, sons of women“, dealing with their functions as blacksmiths’ griots.