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Dogon people 48 languages

For the ethnic group of the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north of Ghana, see Dagomba people.

The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau Dogon people
region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger bend, near the city
of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. The population numbers
between 400,000 and 800,000.[2] They speak the Dogon languages,
which are considered to constitute an independent branch of the

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Niger–Congo language family, meaning that they are not closely
related to any other languages.[3]

The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask
dances, wooden sculpture, and their architecture. Since the
twentieth century, there have been significant changes in the social
organisation, material culture and beliefs of the Dogon, in part
because Dogon country is one of Mali's major tourist attractions.[4]

Geography and history [ edit ]

See also: Toloy and Dogon country

The principal Dogon area is bisected by the Bandiagara

Escarpment, a sandstone cliff of up to 500 metres (1,600 ft) high,
stretching about 150 km (90 miles). To the southeast of the cliff, the
sandy Séno-Gondo Plains are found, and northwest of the cliff are
Dogon men in their ceremonial attire
the Bandiagara Highlands. Historically, Dogon villages were
Total population
established in the Bandiagara area a thousand years ago because
1,591,787 (2012–2013)
the people collectively refused to convert to Islam and retreated
Regions with significant populations
from areas controlled by Muslims.[5]
Mali 1,751,965 (8.7%)[1]
Dogon insecurity in the face of these historical pressures caused Languages
them to locate their villages in defensible positions along the walls Dogon languages, Bangime, French
of the escarpment. The other factor influencing their choice of Religion
settlement location was access to water. The Niger River is nearby African traditional religion, Islam, Christianity
and in the sandstone rock, a rivulet runs at the foot of the
cliff at the lowest point of the area during the wet season.

Among the Dogon, several oral traditions have been

recorded as to their origin. One relates to their coming from
Mande, located to the southwest of the Bandiagara
escarpment near Bamako. According to this oral tradition,
the first Dogon settlement was established in the extreme
southwest of the escarpment at Kani-Na.[6][7] Archaeological
and ethnoarchaeological studies in the Dogon region have
been especially revealing about the settlement and
environmental history, and about social practices and A Dogon hunter with a flintlock musket, 2010.

technologies in this area over several thousands of

years.[8][9][10]

Over time, the Dogon moved north along the escarpment,

arriving in the Sanga region in the 15th century.[11] Other
oral histories place the origin of the Dogon to the west
beyond the river Niger, or tell of the Dogon coming from the
east. It is likely that the Dogon of today are descendants of
several groups of diverse origin who migrated to escape
Islamization.[12]

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It is often difficult to distinguish between pre-Muslim
practices and later practices. But Islamic law classified the
Dogon and many other ethnicities of the region (Mossi,
Gurma, Bobo, Busa and the Yoruba) as being within the
non-canon dar al-harb and consequently fair game for slave
raids organized by merchants.[13] As the growth of cities
increased, the demand for slaves across the region of West
Africa also increased. The historical pattern included the
murder of indigenous males by raiders and enslavement of
women and children.[14] Dogon dwellings along the Bandiagara
Escarpment.
For almost 1000 years,[15] the Dogon people, an ancient
ethnic group of Mali[16] had faced religious and ethnic
persecution—through jihads by dominant Muslim communities.[15] These jihadic expeditions formed themselves
to force the Dogon to abandon their traditional religious beliefs for Islam. Such jihads caused the Dogon to
abandon their original villages and moved up to the cliffs of Bandiagara for better defense and to escape
persecution—often building their dwellings in little nooks and crannies.[15][17]

Art [ edit ]

Main article: African art § Dogon

Dogon art consists primarily of sculptures. Dogon art revolves around religious values, ideals, and freedoms
(Laude, 19). Dogon sculptures are not made to be seen publicly, and are commonly hidden from the public eye
within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the Hogon (Laude, 20). The importance of secrecy is due
to the symbolic meaning behind the pieces and the process by which they are made.

Themes found throughout Dogon sculpture consist of figures with raised arms, superimposed bearded figures,
horsemen, stools with caryatids, women with children, figures covering their faces, women grinding pearl millet,
women bearing vessels on their heads, donkeys bearing cups, musicians, dogs, quadruped-shaped troughs or
benches, figures bending from the waist, mirror-images, aproned figures, and standing figures (Laude, 46–52).

Signs of other contacts and origins are evident in Dogon art. The Dogon people were not the first inhabitants of
the cliffs of Bandiagara. Influence from Tellem art is evident in Dogon art because of its rectilinear designs (Laude,
24).

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Kanaga mask in three pieces;
20th century; 108 x 59.1 x
22.9 cm (421⁄2 x 231⁄4 x 9 in);
Brooklyn Museum (New York
City)
Door of the hogon box of Sangha
village
Sculpture, probably an ancestor
figure; 17th–18th century; wood;
height: 59 cm (23 in.); from Mali
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Person wearing a Satimbe mask Person wearing a Walu mask,
based on an antelope
Figure of a seated musician (koro Female or male figure; probably
player); late 18th century; 55.8 x early 17th century; 40.0 x 7.3 x
17.7 x 10.8 cm (22 x 7 x 41⁄4 in.); 7.8 cm (153⁄4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in.);
Brooklyn Museum (New York Brooklyn Museum
City)
Figure of a kneeling woman;
c. 1500; wood; height: 35.2 cm
(137⁄8 in.); Metropolitan Museum
of Art (New York City)
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Culture and religion [ edit ]

Today, at least 35% of the Dogon practice Islam. Another 10% practices Christianity. Dogon society is organized
by a patrilineal kinship system. Each Dogon village, or enlarged family, is headed by one male elder. This chief
head is the oldest living son of the ancestor of the local branch of the family.

The blind Dogon elder Ogotemmeli taught the main symbols of the Dogon religion to French anthropologist
Marcel Griaule in October 1946.[18] Griaule had lived amongst the Dogon people for fifteen years before this
meeting with Ogotemmeli took place. Ogotemmeli taught Griaule the religious stories in the same way that
Ogotemmeli had learned them from his father and grandfather; oral instruction which he had learned over the
course of more than twenty years.[19] What makes the record so important from a historical perspective is that the
Dogon people were still living in their oral culture at the time their religion was recorded. They were one of the last
people in West Africa to lose their independence and come under French rule.[18]

The Dogon people with whom French anthropologists Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen worked during the 1930s
and 1940s had a system of signs which ran into the thousands, including "their own systems of astronomy and
calendrical measurements, methods of calculation and extensive anatomical and physiological knowledge, as well
as a systematic pharmacopoeia".[20] The religion embraced many aspects of nature which are found in other
traditional African religions.

The key spiritual figures in the religion were the Nummo/Nommo twins. According to Ogotemmêli's description of
them, the Nummo, whom he also referred to as "Water", had green skin covered in green hair, and were formed
like humans from the loins up, but serpent-like below. Their eyes were red, their tongues forked, and their arms
flexible and unjointed.[21]

Ogotemmêli classified the Nummo as hermaphrodites. Their images or figures appeared on the female side of the
Dogon sanctuary.[22] They were primarily symbolized by the Sun, which was a female symbol in the religion. In
the Dogon language, the Sun's name (nay) had the same root as "mother" (na) and "cow" (nā).[23] They were
symbolized by the colour red, a female symbol.

The problem of "twin births" versus "single births", or androgyny versus single-sexed beings, was said to
contribute to a disorder at the beginning of time. This theme was fundamental to the Dogon religion. "The jackal
was alone from birth," said Ogotemmêli, "and because of this he did more things than can be told."[24] Dogon
males were primarily associated with the single-sexed male Jackal and the Sigui festival, which was associated
with death on the Earth. It was held once every sixty years and allegedly celebrated the white dwarf star, Sirius
B.[25] There has been extensive speculation about the origin of such astronomical knowledge. The colour white
was a symbol of males. The ritual language, "Sigi so" or "language of the Sigui", which was taught to male
dignitaries of the Society of the Masks ("awa"), was considered a poor language. It contained only about a quarter
of the full vocabulary of "Dogo so", the Dogon language. The "Sigi so" was used to tell the story of creation of the
universe, of human life, and the advent of death on the Earth, during both funeral ceremonies and the rites of the
"end of mourning" ("dama").[26]

Because of the birth of the single-sexed male Jackal, who was born without a soul, all humans eventually had to
be turned into single-sexed beings. This was to prevent a being like the Jackal from ever being born on Earth
again. "The Nummo foresaw that the original rule of twin births was bound to disappear, and that errors might
result comparable to those of the jackal, whose birth was single. Because of his solitary state, the first son of God
acted as he did."[24] The removal of the second sex and soul from humans is what the ritual of circumcision

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represents in the Dogon religion. "The dual soul is a danger; a man should be male, and a woman female.
Circumcision and excision are once again the remedy."[27]

The Dogon religion was centered on this loss of twinness or androgyny. Griaule describes it in this passage:

Most of the conversations with Ogotemmêli had indeed turned largely on twins and on the need for
duality and the doubling of individual lives. The Eight original Ancestors were really eight pairs ... But
after this generation, human beings were usually born single. Dogon religion and Dogon philosophy
both expressed a haunting sense of the original loss of twin-ness. The heavenly Powers themselves
were dual, and in their Earthly manifestations they constantly intervened in pairs ...[28]

The birth of human twins was celebrated in the Dogon culture in Griaule's day because it recalled the "fabulous
past, when all beings came into existence in twos, symbols of the balance between humans and the divine".
According to Griaule, the celebration of twin-births was a cult that extended all over Africa.[28] Today, a significant
minority of the Dogon practice Islam. Another minority practices Christianity.

Those who remain in their ethnic religion generally believe in the significance of the stars and the creator god,
Amma, who created Earth and molded it into the shape of a woman,[29] imbuing it with a divine feminine principle.

Marriage [ edit ]

The vast majority of marriages are monogamous, but nonsororal polygynous marriages are allowed in the Dogon
culture. However, even in polygynous marriages, it is rare for a man to have more than two wives. In a polygynous
marriage, the wives reside in separate houses within the husband's compound. The first wife, or ya biru, holds a
higher position in the family relative to any wives from later marriages. Formally, wives join their husband's
household only after the birth of their first child.[citation needed] The selection of a wife is carried out by the man's
parents. Marriages are endogamous in that the people are limited to marry only persons within their clan and
within their caste.[30]

Women may leave their husbands early in their marriage, before the birth of their first child.[citation needed] After a
couple has had children together, divorce is a rare and serious matter, and it requires the participation of the
whole village.[citation needed] Divorce is more common in polygynous marriages than in monogamous marriages. In
the event of a divorce, the woman takes only the youngest child with her, and the rest remain as a part of the
husband's household. An enlarged family can count up to a hundred persons and is called guinna.

The Dogon are strongly oriented toward harmony, which is

reflected in many of their rituals. For instance, in one of their
most important rituals, the women praise the men, the men
thank the women, the young express appreciation for the
old, and the old recognize the contributions of the young.
Another example is the custom of elaborate greetings
whenever one Dogon meets another. This custom is
repeated over and over, throughout a Dogon village, all day.

During a greeting ritual, the person who has entered the

contact answers a series of questions about his or her whole
family, from the person who was already there. The answer A Hogon.
is sewa, which means that everything is fine. Then the
Dogon who has entered the contact repeats the ritual,

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asking the resident how his or her whole family is. Because the word sewa is so commonly repeated throughout a
Dogon village, neighboring peoples have dubbed the Dogon the sewa people.

Hogon [ edit ]
Main article: Hogon

The Hogon is the spiritual and political leader of the village. He is elected from among the oldest men of the
dominant lineage of the village.

After his election, he has to follow a six-month initiation period, during which he is not allowed to shave or wash.
He wears white clothes and nobody is allowed to touch him. A virgin who has not yet had her period takes care of
him, cleans his house, and prepares his meals. She returns to her home at night.

After initiation, the Hogon wears a red fez. He has an

armband with a sacred pearl that symbolises his function.
The virgin is replaced by one of his wives, and she also
returns to her home at night. The Hogon has to live alone in
his house. The Dogon believe the sacred snake Lébé comes
during the night to clean him and to transfer wisdom.

Subsistence pattern [ edit ]

The Dogon are primarily agriculturalists and cultivate millet,

sorghum and rice, as well as onions, tobacco, peanuts, and A mud mosque and minaret.
some other vegetables. Griaule encouraged the construction
of a dam near Sangha and persuaded the Dogon to cultivate
onions. The economy of the Sangha region has doubled since then, and its onions are sold as far as the market
of Bamako and those of the Ivory Coast. Grain is stored in granaries.[citation needed]

In addition to agriculture, the women gather wild fruits, tubers, nuts, and honey in the bush outside of village
borders. Some young men will hunt for small game, but wild animals are relatively scarce near villages. While the
people keep chickens or herds of sheep and goats in Dogon villages, animal husbandry holds little economic
value. Individuals with high status may own a small number of cattle.[31]

Since the late 20th century, the Dogon have developed peaceful trading relationships with other societies and
have thereby increased variety in their diets. Every four days, Dogon people participate in markets with
neighboring tribes, such as the Fulani and the Dyula. The Dogon primarily sell agricultural commodities: onions,
grain, cotton, and tobacco. They purchase sugar, salt, European merchandise, and many animal products, such
as milk, butter, and dried fish.[citation needed]

Castes [ edit ]

There are two endogamous castes in Dogon society: the smiths and the leather-workers. Members of these
castes are physically separate from the rest of the village and live either at the village edge or outside of it entirely.
While the castes are correlated to profession, membership is determined by birth. The smiths have important
ritual powers and are characteristically poor. The leather-workers engage in significant trade with other ethnic
groups and accumulate wealth. Unlike norms for the rest of society, parallel-cousin marriage is allowed within
castes. Caste boys do not get circumcised.[32]

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Circumcision [ edit ]

In Dogon thought, males and females are born with both

sexual components. The clitoris is considered male, while
the foreskin is considered female.[24] (Originally, for the
Dogon, man was endowed with a dual soul. Circumcision is
believed to eliminate the superfluous one.[33]) Rites of
circumcision enable each sex to assume its proper physical
identity.

Boys are circumcised in age groups of three years, counting

for example all boys between 9 and 12 years old. This
marks the end of their youth, and they are initiated. The
blacksmith performs the circumcision. Afterwards, the boys Cave paintings depicting circumcisions.

stay for a few days in a hut separated from the rest of the
village people, until the wounds have healed. The circumcision is celebrated and the initiated boys go around and
receive presents. They make music on a special instrument that is made of a rod of wood and calabashes that
makes the sound of a rattle.

The newly circumcised youths, now considered young men, walk around naked for a month after the procedure
so that their achievement in age can be admired by the tribe. This practice has been passed down for generations
and is always followed, even during winter.

Once a boy is circumcised, he transitions into young adulthood and moves out of his father's house. All of the
men in his age-set live together in a duñe until they marry and have children.[34]

The Dogon are among several African ethnic groups that practice female genital mutilation, including a type I
circumcision, meaning that the clitoris is removed.[35]

The village of Songho has a circumcision cave ornamented with red and white rock paintings of animals and
plants. Nearby is a cave where music instruments are stored.

Dogon mask societies [ edit ]

See also: Awa Society

The Awa is a masked dance society that holds ritual and social importance. It has a strict code of etiquette,
obligations, interdicts, and a secret language (sigi so). All initiated Dogon men participate in Awa, with the
exception of some caste members. Women are forbidden from joining and prohibited from learning sigi so. The
'Awa' is characterized by the intricate masks worn by members during rituals. There are two major events at
which the Awa perform: the 'sigi' ritual and 'dama' funeral rituals.[36]

'Sigi' is a society-wide ritual to honor and recognize the first ancestors. Thought to have originated as a method to
unite and keep peace among Dogon villages, the 'sigi' involves all members of the Dogon people. Starting in the
northeastern part of Dogon territory, each village takes turns celebrating and hosting elaborate feasts,
ceremonies, and festivities. During this time, new masks are carved and dedicated to their ancestors. Each village
celebrates for around a year before the 'sigi' moves to the next village. A new 'sigi' is started every 60 years.

Dogon funeral rituals come in two parts. The first occurs immediately after the death of a person, and the second
can occur years after the death. Due to the expense, the second traditional funeral rituals, or "damas", are

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becoming very rare. Damas that are still performed today are not usually performed for their original intent, but
instead are performed for tourists interested in the Dogon way of life. The Dogon use this entertainment to earn
income by charging tourists money for the masks they want to see and for the ritual itself (Davis, 68).

The traditional dama consists of a masquerade intended to lead the souls of the departed to their final resting
places, through a series of ritual dances and rites. Dogon damas include the use of many masks, which they wore
by securing them in their teeth, and statuettes. Each Dogon village may differ in the designs of the masks used in
the dama ritual. Similarly each village may have their own way of performing the dama rituals. The dama consists
of an event, known as the Halic, that is held immediately after the death of a person and lasts for one day (Davis,
68).

According to Shawn R. Davis, this particular ritual incorporates the elements of the yingim and the danyim. During
the yincomoli ceremony, a gourd is smashed over the deceased's wooden bowl, hoe, and bundukamba (burial
blanket). This announces the entrance of persons wearing the masks used in this ceremony, while the deceased's
entrance to his home in the family compound is decorated with ritual elements (Davis, 72–73).

Masks used during the yincomoli ceremony include the Yana Gulay,
Satimbe, Sirige, and Kanaga. The Yana Gulay mask's purpose is to
impersonate a Fulani woman, and is made from cotton cloth and cowl
shells. The Satimbe mask represents the women ancestors, who are said
to have discovered the purpose of the masks by guiding the spirits of the
deceased into the afterlife (Davis, 74). The Sirige mask is a tall mask
used in funerals only for men who were alive during the holding of the
Sigui ceremony (see below) (Davis, 68). The Kanaga masqueraders, at
one point, dance and sit next to the bundkamba, which represents the
deceased.

The yingim and the danyim rituals each last a few days. These events are
held annually to honor the elders who have died since the last Dama. The
yingim consists of both the sacrifice of cows, or other valuable animals,
and mock combat. Large mock battles are performed in order to help
chase the spirit, known as the nyama, from the deceased's body and
village, and towards the path to the afterlife (Davis, 68). A man wearing a Sirige mask jumps
during a ceremony, 1974
The danyim is held a couple of months later. During the danyim,
masqueraders perform dances every morning and evening for any period
up to six days, depending on that village's practice. The masqueraders dance on the rooftops of the deceased's
compound, throughout the village, and in the area of fields around the village (Davis, 68). Until the masqueraders
have completed their dances, and every ritual has been performed, any misfortune can be blamed on the
remaining spirits of the dead (Davis, 68).

Sects [ edit ]

Dogon society is composed of several different sects:

The sect of the creator god Amma. The celebration is

once a year and consists of offering boiled millet on the

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 conical altar of Amma, colouring it white. All other sects
are directed to the god Amma.[citation needed]
Sigui is the most important ceremony of the Dogon. It
takes place every 60 years and can take several years.
The last one started in 1967 and ended in 1973; the next
one will start in 2027. The Sigui ceremony symbolises
the death of the first ancestor (not to be confused with
Lébé) until the moment that humanity acquired the use
of the spoken word. The Sigui is a long procession that
starts and ends in the village of Youga Dogorou, and
goes from one village to another during several months
or years. All men wear masks and dance in long
processions. The Sigui has a secret language, Sigui So,
which women are not allowed to learn. The secret
Society of Sigui plays a central role in the ceremony.
They prepare the ceremonies a long time in advance,
and they live for three months hidden outside of the
villages while nobody is allowed to see them. The men
from the Society of Sigui are called the Olubaru. The
Crocodile Totem
villagers are afraid of them, and fear is cultivated by a
prohibition to go out at night, when sounds warn that the
Olubaru are out. The most important mask that plays a major role in the Sigui rituals is the Great Mask, or the
Mother of Masks. It is several meters long, held by hand, and not used to hide a face. This mask is newly
created every 60 years.
The Binou sect uses totems: common ones for the entire village and individual ones for totem priests. A totem
animal is worshiped on a Binou altar. Totems are, for example, the buffalo for Ogol-du-Haut and the panther
for Ogol-du-Bas. Normally, no one is harmed by their totem animal, even if this is a crocodile, as it is for the
village of Amani (where there is a large pool of crocodiles that do not harm villagers). However, a totem animal
might exceptionally harm if one has done something wrong. A worshiper is not allowed to eat his totem. For
example, an individual with a buffalo as totem is not allowed to eat buffalo meat, to use leather from its skin,
nor to see a buffalo die. If this happens by accident, he has to organise a purification sacrifice at the Binou
altar. Boiled millet is offered, and goats and chickens are sacrificed on a Binou altar. This colours the altar
white and red. Binou altars look like little houses with a door. They are bigger when the altar is for an entire
village. A village altar also has the 'cloud hook', to catch clouds and make it rain.
The Lébé sect worships the ancestor Lébé Serou, the first mortal human being, who, in Dogon myth, was
transformed into a snake. The celebration takes place once a year and lasts for three days. The altar is a
pointed conic structure on which the Hogon offers boiled millet while mentioning in his benediction eight grains
plus one. Afterwards, the Hogon performs some rituals in his house, which is the home of Lébé. The last day,
all the village men visit all the Binou altars and dance three times around the Lébé altar. The Hogon invites
everybody who assisted to drink the millet beer.
The twin sect: The birth of twins is a sign of good luck. The extended Dogon families have common rituals,
during which they evoke all their ancestors back to their origin—the ancient pair of twins from the creation of
the world.
The Mono sect: The Mono altar is at the entry of every village. Unmarried young men celebrate the Mono sect
once a year in January or February. They spend the night around the altar, singing and screaming and waving

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 with fire torches. They hunt for mice that will be sacrificed on the altar at dawn.

Dogon villages [ edit ]

Villages are built along escarpments and near a source of

water. On average, a village contains around 44 houses
organized around the 'ginna', or head man's house. Each
village is composed of one main lineage (occasionally,
multiple lineages make up a single village) traced through
the male line. Houses are built extremely close together,
many times sharing walls and floors.

Dogon villages have different buildings:

Male granary: storage place for pearl millet and other A typical Dogon village.
grains. Building with a pointed roof. This building is well
protected from mice. The number of filled male granaries
is an indication for the size and the richness of a guinna.
Female granary: storage place for a woman's things, her
husband has no access. Building with a pointed roof. It
looks like a male granary but is less protected against
mice. Here, she stores her personal belongings such as
clothes, jewelry, money and some food. A woman has a
degree of economic independence, and earnings and
things related to her merchandise are stored in her
personal granary. She can for example make cotton or
pottery. The number of female granaries is an indication
for the number of women living in the guinna.
Tógu nà (a kind of case à palabres): a building only for A Toguna
men. They rest here much of the day throughout the
heat of the dry season, discuss affairs and take
important decisions in the toguna.[37] The roof of a toguna is made by 8 layers of millet stalks. It is a low
building in which one cannot stand upright. This helps with avoiding violence when discussions get heated.
Punulu (a house for menstruating women): this house is on the outside of the village. It is constructed by
women and is of lower quality than the other village buildings. Women having their period are considered to be
unclean and have to leave their family house to live during five days in this house. They use kitchen
equipment only to be used here. They bring with them their youngest children. This house is a gathering place
for women during the evening. This hut is also thought to have some sort of reproductive symbolism due to
the fact that the hut can be easily seen by the men who are working the fields who know that only women who
are on their period, and thus not pregnant, can be there.

Languages [ edit ]

Main article: Dogon languages

Dogon has been frequently referred to as a single language. There are at least five distinct groups of dialects. The
most ancient dialects are dyamsay and tombo, the former being most frequently used for traditional prayers and
ritual chants. The Dogon dialects are highly distinct from one another and many varieties are not mutually

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intelligible, actually amounting to some 12 dialects and 50 sub-dialects. There is also a secret ritual language sigi
sǫ (language of Sigi), which is taught to dignitaries (olubarū) of the Society of the Masks during their
enthronement at the Sigui ceremony.[38] Women have no right to learn Sigui So.

It is generally accepted that the Dogon language belongs to the Niger–Congo language family, though the
evidence is weak.[citation needed][why?] They have been linked to the Mande subfamily but also to Gur. In a recent
overview of the Niger–Congo family, Dogon is treated as an independent branch.[3]

The Dogon languages show few remnants of a unique noun class system, an example of which is that human
nouns take a distinct plural suffix. This leads linguists to conclude that Dogon is likely to have diverged from
Niger–Congo very early.[when?] Another indication of this is the subject–object–verb basic word order, which
Dogon shares with such early Niger–Congo branches as Ijoid and Mande.

About 1,500 ethnic Dogon in seven villages in southern Mali speak the Bangime language, which is unrelated to
the other Dogon languages and presumed by linguists to be an ancient, pre-Dogon language isolate, although a
minority of linguists (most notably Roger Blench) hypothesise that it may be related to Proto-Nilo-Saharan.[39]

Astronomical beliefs [ edit ]

Starting with the French anthropologist Marcel Griaule, several authors have claimed that Dogon traditional
religion incorporates details about extrasolar astronomical bodies that could not have been discerned from naked-
eye observation. The idea has entered the New Age and ancient astronaut literature as evidence that
extraterrestrial aliens visited Mali in the distant past. Other authors have argued that previous 20th-century
European visitors to the Dogon are a far more plausible source of such information and dispute whether Griaule's
account accurately describes Dogon myths at all.

From 1931 to 1956, Griaule studied the Dogon in field missions ranging from several days to two months in 1931,
1935, 1937 and 1938[40] and then annually from 1946 until 1956.[41] In late 1946, Griaule spent a consecutive 33
days in conversations with the Dogon wiseman Ogotemmeli, the source of much of Griaule and Germaine
Dieterlen's future publications.[42] They reported that the Dogon believe that the brightest star in the night sky,
Sirius (Sigi Tolo or "star of the Sigui"[43]), has two companion stars, Pō Tolo (the Digitaria star), and ęmmę ya tolo,
(the female Sorghum star), respectively the first and second companions of Sirius A.[44] Sirius, in the Dogon
system, formed one of the foci for the orbit of a tiny star, the companionate Digitaria star. When Digitaria is closest
to Sirius, that star brightens: when it is farthest from Sirius, it gives off a twinkling effect that suggests to the
observer several stars. The orbit cycle takes 50 years.[45] They also claimed that the Dogon appeared to know of
the rings of Saturn, and the moons of Jupiter.[46]

Griaule and Dieterlen were puzzled by this Sudanese star system, and prefaced their analysis with the disclaimer,
"The problem of knowing how, with no instruments at their disposal, men could know the movements and certain
characteristics of virtually invisible stars has not been settled, nor even posed."[47]

More recently, doubts have been raised about the validity of Griaule and Dieterlen's work.[48][49] In a 1991 article
in Current Anthropology, anthropologist Wouter van Beek concluded after his research among the Dogon that,
"Though they do speak about Sigu Tolo [which is what Griaule claimed the Dogon called Sirius] they disagree
completely with each other as to which star is meant; for some it is an invisible star that should rise to announce
the sigu [festival], for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as Sigu Tolo. All agree,
however, that they learned about the star from Griaule."[50]

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Griaule's daughter Geneviève Calame-Griaule responded in a later issue, arguing that Van Beek did not go
"through the appropriate steps for acquiring knowledge" and suggesting that van Beek's Dogon informants may
have thought that he had been "sent by the political and administrative authorities to test the Dogon's Muslim
orthodoxy".[51] An independent assessment is given by Andrew Apter of the University of California.[52]

In a 1978 critique, skeptic Ian Ridpath concluded: "There are any number of channels by which the Dogon could
have received Western knowledge long before they were visited by Griaule and Dieterlen."[53] In his book Sirius
Matters, Noah Brosch postulates that the Dogon may have had contact with astronomers based in Dogon territory
during a five-week expedition, led by Henri-Alexandre Deslandres, to study the solar eclipse of 16 April 1893.[54]

Robert Todd Carroll also states that a more likely source of the knowledge of the Sirius star system is from
contemporary, terrestrial sources who provided information to interested members of the tribes.[55] James Oberg,
however, citing these suspicions notes their completely speculative nature, writing that, "The obviously advanced
astronomical knowledge must have come from somewhere, but is it an ancient bequest or a modern graft?
Although Temple fails to prove its antiquity, the evidence for the recent acquisition of the information is still entirely
circumstantial."[56] Additionally, James Clifford notes that Griaule sought informants best qualified to speak of
traditional lore, and deeply mistrusted converts to Christianity, Islam, or people with too much contact with
whites.[57]

Oberg points out a number of errors contained in the Dogon beliefs, including the number of moons possessed by
Jupiter, that Saturn was the furthest planet from the sun, and the only planet with rings. Interest in other seemingly
falsifiable claims, namely concerning a red dwarf star orbiting around Sirius (not hypothesized until the 1950s), led
him to entertain a previous challenge by Temple, asserting that "Temple offered another line of reasoning. 'We
have in the Dogon information a predictive mechanism which it is our duty to test, regardless of our
preconceptions.' One example: 'If a Sirius-C is ever discovered and found to be a red dwarf, I will conclude that
the Dogon information has been fully validated.'

This alludes to reports that the Dogon knew of another star in the Sirius system, Ęmmę Ya, or a star "larger than
Sirius B but lighter and dim in magnitude". In 1995, gravitational studies indeed showed the possible presence of
a brown dwarf star orbiting around Sirius (a Sirius-C) with a six-year orbital period.[58] A more recent study using
advanced infrared imaging concluded that the probability of the existence of a triple star system for Sirius is "now
low" but could not be ruled out because the region within 5 AU of Sirius A had not been covered.[59]

See also [ edit ]

Fula people
Toucouleur people
Jobawa
Sullubawa

Footnotes [ edit ]

1. ^ "Mali" . www.cia.gov/. Retrieved 19 November 4. ^ "Mali: what price tourism?" . 16 April 2001.
2020. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
2. ^ Shoup, John A. (2011). Ethnic Groups of Africa and 5. ^ Griaule & Dieterlen (1965), p. 17
the Middle East: An Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO. p. 86. 6. ^ Dieterlen, G., 1955. "Mythes et organisation sociale
ISBN 9781598843620. au Soudan français". Journal de la Société des
3. ^ ab Williamson & Blench (2000), p. 18 Africanistes 25 (1/2), 39–76.

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 7. ^ A. Mayor; et al. (31 March 2005). "Population
dynamics and Paleoclimate over the past 3000 years
in the Dogon Country, Mali" . Journal of
Anthropological Archaeology. 24 (1): 25–61.
doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2004.08.003 .
8. ^ Mayor, A. 2011. Traditions céramiques dans la
boucle du Niger: ethnoarchéologie et histoire du
peuplement au temps des empires précoloniaux.
Africa Magna, Frankfurt a. M.
9. ^ Ozainne, S. 2013. Un néolithique ouest-africain:
cadre chrono-culturel, économique et environnemental
de l'Holocène récent en Pays dogon, Mali. Africa
Magna, Frankfurt a. M.
10. ^ Robion-Brunner, C. 2010. Forgerons et sidérurgie en
pays dogon: vers une histoire de la production du fer
sur le plateau de Bandiagara (Mali) durant les empires
précoloniaux. Africa Magna, Frankfurt a. M.
11. ^ Griaule, M. (1938) Masques dogons. Paris.
12. ^ Morton, Robert (ed.) & Hollyman, Stephenie
(photographs) & Walter E.A. van Beek (text) (2001)
Dogon: Africa's people of the cliffs. New York: Abrams.
ISBN 0-8109-4373-5
13. ^ Timothy Insoll, The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-
Saharan Africa (2003) Cambridge University Press, p.
308
14. ^ Christopher Wise, Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial
Writer, Islamic Militant, 1999, Lynne Rienner
Publishers
15. ^ a b c Griaule, Marcel; Dieterlen, Germaine; (1965).
Le mythe cosmologique. Le renard pâle., 1. Paris:
Institut d'Ethnologie Musée de l'homme, p. 17
16. ^ The Independent, Caught in the crossfire of Mali's
war (25 January 2013) by Kim Sengupta [1]
(retrieved March 14, 2020)
17. ^ Africa Today, Volume 7, Afro Media (2001), p. 126
18. ^ ab Griaule (1970), p. 3
19. ^ Griaule (1970), pp. 13–14
20. ^ Griaule (1970), p. xiv
21. ^ Griaule 1970, p. 18
22. ^ Griaule (1970), p. 105
23. ^ Griaule & Dieterlen (1986), p. 508
24. ^ abc Griaule (1970), p. 22
25. ^ "Did the Dogon of Mali know about Sirius B?" .
26. ^ Griaule & Dieterlen (1986), pp. 33–34
27. ^ Griaule (1970), pp. 22–23
28. ^ a b Griaule (1970), p. 198
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29. ^ Matt, Phillips; Andrew, David; Bainbridge, James;
Bewer, Tim; Bindloss, Joe; Carillet, Jean-Bernard;
Clammer, Paul; Cornwell, Jane; Crossan, Rob; et al.
(Authors) (September 2007). The Africa Book: A
Journey Through Every Country in the Continent .
Coordinated by Matt Phillips. Footscray, Australia:
Lonely Planet. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-74104-602-1.
OCLC 144596621 .
30. ^ Beierle, John; Skoggard, Ian A. (2000). "Culture
Summary: Dogon": 4. {{cite journal}}: Cite
journal requires |journal= (help)
31. ^ Beek, W. E. A. (1993). "Processes and Limitations of
Dogon Agricultural Knowledge" . Anthropological
Critique of Development: The Growth of Ignorance.
ISBN 9780415079587.
32. ^ Tait, David (1950). "An Analytical Commentary on
the Social Structure of the Dogon". Africa: Journal of
the International African Institute. 20 (3): 185–189.
doi:10.2307/1156785 . JSTOR 1156785 .
S2CID 146405829 .
33. ^ Griaule (1970), p. 24
34. ^ Tait, David (1950). "An Analytical Commentary on
the Social Structure of the Dogon". Africa: Journal of
the International African Institute. 20 (3): 174–176.
doi:10.2307/1156785 . JSTOR 1156785 .
S2CID 146405829 .
35. ^ Womack, Mari (2009). The Anthropology of Health
and Healing . AltaMira Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-
0759110441. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
36. ^ Tait, David (1950). "An Analytical Commentary on
the Social Structure of the Dogon". Africa: Journal of
the International African Institute. 20 (3): 194.
doi:10.2307/1156785 . JSTOR 1156785 .
S2CID 146405829 .
37. ^ Anne Doquet, Sory Camara, Les masques
dogon:ethnologie savante et ethnologie autochtone,
Karthala editions, 1999 p.253
38. ^ Griaule & Dieterlen (1965), pp. 18–19
39. ^ Blench, Roger. 2015. Was there a now-vanished
branch of Nilo-Saharan on the Dogon Plateau?
Evidence from substrate vocabulary in Bangime and
Dogon . In Mother Tongue, Issue 20, 2015: In
Memory of Harold Crane Fleming (1926-2015).
40. ^ Ciarcia, Gaetano "Dogons et Dogon. Retours au
'pays du reel'", L'Homme 157 (janvier/mars): 217–229.
[2]
41. ^ Imperato, Pascal James, Historical Dictionary of Mali
Scarecrow Press, 1977 ISBN 978-0-8108-1005-1 p.53
42. ^ Imbo, Samuel Oluoch, An Introduction to African
Philosophy Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (28 June
1998) ISBN 978-0-8476-8841-8 p.64 [3]
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 43. ^ Sirius is also called Albararu. See Griaule &
Dieterlen (1965), p. 514
44. ^ Griaule & Dieterlen (1965), pp. 468, 470, 514
45. ^ Griaule & Dieterlen (1976), pp. 64–65, 68
46. ^ M Griaule, G Dieterlen, The Dogon of the French
Sudan (1948)
47. ^ Griaule & Dieterlen (1976), p. 59
48. ^ Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano. "The Dogon
Revisited" . Archived from the original on 16
February 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
49. ^ Philip Coppens. "Dogon Shame" . Archived from
the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 13 October
2007.
50. ^ van Beek, WAE; Bedaux; Blier; Bouju; Crawford;
Douglas; Lane; Meillassoux (1991). "Dogon Restudied:
A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel Griaule".
Current Anthropology. 32 (2): 139–67.
doi:10.1086/203932 . JSTOR 2743641 .
S2CID 224796672 .
51. ^ Geneviève Calame-Griaule: "On the Dogon
Restudied". Current Anthropology, Vol. 32, No. 5
(December 1991), pp. 575–577
52. ^ Andrew Apter, Cahiers d'Études africaines, XLV (1),
177, (2005), pp. 95–129. "Griaule's Legacy: Rethinking
"la parole claire" in Dogon Studies" (PDF). Archived
from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2008.
53. ^ Ridpath, Ian (1978) "Investigating the Sirius
Mystery" Skeptical Inquirer, vol.3, no.1, pp.56–62
54. ^ Brosch, Noah (2008), Sirius Matters , Springer,
p. 66, ISBN 9781402083198, retrieved 21 January
2011
55. ^ Carroll, RT (2003). The Skeptic's Dictionary: A
Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions,
and Dangerous Delusions . John Wiley & Sons.
p. 104. ISBN 978-0-471-27242-7.
56. ^ Oberg, J. "The Sirius Mystery" . Retrieved
30 December 2008.
57. ^ James Clifford, 'Power and Dialogue in
Ethnography:Marcel Griaule’s initiation,’ in George W.
Stocking (ed.) Observers observed: essays on
ethnographic fieldwork, University of Wisconsin Press,
1983 pp. 121–156, p.137
58. ^ Benest, D. and Duvent, J. L. (1995). "Is Sirius a triple
star?" Astronomy and Astrophysics 299: 621–628
59. ^ Bonnet-Bidaud, J. M.; Pantin, E. (October 2008).
"ADONIS high contrast infrared imaging of Sirius-B".
Astronomy and Astrophysics. 489 (2): 651–655.
arXiv:0809.4871 . Bibcode:2008A&A...489..651B .
doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078937 .
S2CID 14743554 .

References [ edit ]

People [ edit ]
Beaudoin, Gerard: Les Dogon du Mali (1997) Ed. BDT Développement. ISBN 2-9511030-0-X
Bedaux, R. & J. D. van der Waals (eds.) (2003) Dogon: mythe en werkelijkheid in Mali [Dogon: myth and reality in Mali].
Leiden: National Museum of Ethnology.
Griaule, M.: Dieu d'eau. Entretiens avec Ogotemmêli. (1966) Ed Fayard. ISBN 2-213-59847-9 (the original French work of
Griaule (that was published in 1948) on his discussions with Ogotemmêli)
Griaule, Marcel (1970) [1965]. Conversations With Ogotemmêli: an Introduction To Dogon Religious Ideas. Oxford
University Press for the International African Institute. ISBN 978-0-19-519821-8.
Griaule, Marcel; Dieterlen, Germaine (1976). "A Sudanese Sirius System". In Robert Temple (ed.). The Sirius Mystery.
London: Futura Books. pp. 58–81. – a translation of Griaule, M.; Dieterlen, G. (1950). "Un système soudanais de Sirius".
Journal de la Société des Africainistes. XX (1): 273–294. doi:10.3406/jafr.1950.2611 .
Griaule, Marcel; Dieterlen, Germaine (1965). Le mythe cosmologique. Le renard pâle. Vol. 1. Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie
Musée de l'homme.
Griaule, Marcel; Dieterlen, Germaine (1986). The Pale Fox. Translated by Stephen C. Infantino. Chino Valley, AZ:
Continuum Foundation.
Morton, Robert (ed.) & Hollyman, Stephenie (photographs) & Walter E.A. van Beek (text) (2001) Dogon: Africa's people of
the cliffs. New York: Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-4373-5
Sékou Ogobara Dolo: La mère des masques. Un Dogon raconte. (2002) Eds. Seuil ISBN 2-02-041133-4
Wanono, Nadine & Renaudeau, Michel (1996) Les Dogon (photographs by Michel Renaudeau; text by Nadine Wanono).
Paris: Éditions du Chêne-Hachette. ISBN 2-85108-937-4
Eds. Petit Futé . Mali 2005–2006 ISBN 2-7469-1185-X

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Language [ edit ]
Bertho, J. (1953). "La place des dialectes dogon de la falaise de Bandiagara parmi les autres groupes linguistiques de la
zone soudanaise". Bulletin de l'IFAN. 15: 405–441.
Hantgan, Abbie (2007) Dogon Languages and Linguistics An (sic) Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography
Hochstetler, J. Lee, Durieux, J. A. & E. I. K. Durieux-Boon (2004) Sociolinguistic Survey of the Dogon Language Area. SIL
International. online version
Williamson, Kay; Blench, Roger (2000). "Niger–Congo". In Bernd Heine; Derek Nurse (eds.). African Languages – an
Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–42.

Art [ edit ]
Ezra, Kate (1988). Art of the Dogon: selections from the Lester Wunderman collection . New York: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0870995071.
Laude, Jean (1973). African Art of the Dogon: The Myths of the Cliff Dwellers . New York: The Viking Press.
ISBN 9780670109289.
Davis, Shawn R. “Dogon Funerals” in African Art; Summer 2002, Vol. 35 Issue 2.

External links [ edit ]

The Dogon People of Bandiagara, Mali, The Dance of Masks of the Dogon People
The Dogon People of Bandiagara, Mali : the Dogon Fish Festival
African worlds : studies in the cosmological ideas and social values of African peoples
Photos of Dogon Country
Pictures of Dogon Country
Dogon images from the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Archived 8 August 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
Dogon images & traditions
Pictures about Dogon dances

Categories: Dogon Ethnic groups in Mali Ethnic groups in Niger

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