[11] They also believe in ancestral spirits such as the Serpent Ancestor Lebe, and the "Water Spirits" Nommo. They make music on a special instrument that is made of a rod of wood and calabashes that makes the sound of a rattle. 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. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. van Beek (text) (2001). A secret language known as sigi so is used by members of the men's society (awa ) in connection with religious rites. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. [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 technologies in this area over several thousands of years. The leather-workers engage in significant trade with other ethnic groups and accumulate wealth. Orientation Other crops include sesame, maize, Land Tenure. After his election, he has to follow a six-month initiation period, during which he is not allowed to shave or wash. 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. Today, at least 35% of the Dogon practice Islam. Thought to have originated as a method to unite and keep peace among Dogon villages, the 'sigi' involves all members of the Dogon people. Today, at least 35% of the Dogon practice Islam. The blind Dogon elder Ogotemmeli taught the main symbols of the Dogon religion to French anthropologist Marcel Griaule in October 1946. The cliffs and rocky terrain provided excellent protection from slave When a woman leaves her husband, she takes with her only the youngest childthe remaining children stay with the husband's family. Kin Groups and Descent. The [5], The hogon may conduct rituals in the Sanctuaire de Binou, a special building the door of which is blocked with rocks. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/dogon. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). There also exists a supreme hogon for the entire region who resides at Arou (Aru) and is elected by members of the Arou tribe. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. The district headman is also head of his lineage and occupies the "great house" (ginna) of that kin group. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. [20] The religion embraced many aspects of nature which are found in other traditional African religions. Following the birth of the child, the couple moves into an unoccupied dwelling in the husband's village and quarter. Not on view. [22] They were primarily symbolized by the sun, which was a female symbol in the religion. Amsterdam: Time-Life Books B.V. After his election, he has to follow a six-month initiation period, during which he is not allowed to shave or wash. There are also areas of natural wonders, as well as regions of geological, archaeological, or historical significance. What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? ETHNONYMS: Kareang, Kariang, Kayin, Pwo, Sgaw, Yang The Dogon believes that the sacred serpent Lebe comes during the night to purify him and communicate wisdom to him. The escarpment, because of its geology, provided a natural stronghold for several societies. Each caste is endogamous, and members do not take part in any of the common religious cults. 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. The orbit cycle takes 50 years. Orientation The hogon is always a man. Often the buildings are so close to one another that the floors of some houses begin where the roofs of adjacent ones end. Another minority practices Christianity. Such persons must submit to a number. You'll get a detailed solution from a subject matter expert that helps you learn core concepts. Blood alliances frequently were contracted between the Dogon and other groups such as the Bozo. Kanaga mask in three pieces; 20th century; 108 x 59.1 x 22.9cm (42.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}12 x 2314 x 9 in); Brooklyn Museum (New York City), Person wearing a Walu mask, based on an antelope, Figure of a seated musician (koro player); late 18th century; 55.8 x 17.7 x 10.8cm (22 x 7 x 414 in. [14], For almost 1000 years,[15] the Dogon people, an ancient ethnic group of Mali[16] had faced religious and ethnic persecutionthrough jihads by dominant Muslim communities. At present I am a Read More. Starting in the northeastern part of Dogon territory, each village takes turns celebrating and hosting elaborate feasts, ceremonies, and festivities. Some young men will hunt for small game, but wild animals are relatively scarce near villages. Death is conceived as the separation from the body of the two parts that make up the personalitythe nyama, or vital life force, and the kikinu say, or soul. One relates to their coming from Mande, located to the southwest of the Bandiagara escarpment near Bamako. 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. Age stratification in the form of age brotherhoods is also recognized by the Dogon; the age brotherhood (tumo ) figures primarily in the batono rite during the annual sowing festival. These caste groups live apart from the general population. [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. The series of dances, which constitute a good part of the Sigi, lasts for seven years; one village after another takes its turn to entertain its neighbors with feasting, drinking, and displays of wealth. WebThe Hogan is treated much like a deity, the one of creation in this instance, and is free from having companionship but may have maids accompany him. In addition to agriculture, the women gather wild fruits, tubers, nuts, and honey in the bush outside of village borders. Grain is stored in granaries. According to this oral tradition, the first Dogon settlement was established in the extreme southwest of the escarpment at Kani-Na. 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 increase in the number of visitors to the area in recent years has done wonders for tourism, but has sadly damaged the environment and this special cultural landscape. This chief head is the oldest living son of the ancestor of the local branch of the family. The Dogon people were not the first inhabitants of the cliffs of Bandiagara. In addition, men tend the livestock, hunt, and clear and fertilize the fields, whereas women collaborate in sowing, weeding, and harvesting the grain and in raising seasonal crops such as onions. In a polygynous marriage, the wives reside in separate houses within the husband's compound. The Hogon has to live alone in his house. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. Socialization. Associated with regeneration Masked Dancers of West Africa: The Dogon. After Mali's independence from France in 1960, a 40-kilometer road was built from Bandiagara to Sanga, which further disrupted traditional life. The designation "Naga" is applied to the numerous Indo-Mongoloid tribes living in the hill country at the, Chin On the other hand, private property goes first to the eldest son (who must provide for his siblings), then the younger brother. Encyclopedia.com. In traditional Dogon society, land was transmitted within the family group (ginna, or lineage), and was considered inalienable property. Whether on the high plateau, the cliff-faces, or on the plain, the Dogon have exploited all the elements available to build their villages that reflect their ingenuity and their philosophy of life and death. In certain cultural areas, the Dogon villages comprise numerous granaries, for the most part square with a thatched tapering roof. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. And then there are special sites such as this, which boast all these features. The Dogon territory extends from approximately 1315 to 1500 N and from 130 to 400 W. The population is concentrated in some 300 villages along a 145-kilometer stretch of escarpment called the Cliffs of Bandiagara. 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 human story begins in Africa. The Dogon primarily sell agricultural commodities: onions, grain, cotton, and tobacco. [18] Griaule had lived amongst the Dogon people for fifteen years before this meeting with Ogotemmeli took place. Conflict. & Hollyman, Stephenie (photographs) & Walter E.A. Marriages are endogamous in that the people are limited to marry only persons within their clan and within their caste.[29]. ); Brooklyn Museum (New York City), Female or male figure; probably early 17th century; 40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8cm (1534 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds, about Petra Historic World Heritage Site Blasted By Flash Floods, about The Classical Gardens of Suzhou: A Sight to Behold, about Denizens of South Africas Cradle of Humankind: The First Walking Apes, about The Unfinished Timurid Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, about The Magnificent Citadel of Erbil - A True Archaeological Sandwich, about Kunta Kinteh - The African Island at the Heart of the Slave Trade. 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). It is obvious to any astronomer that some of the brightest objects in the night sky are the planets. Orientation Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The answer is sewa, which means that everything is fine. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Dogon moved into the region of the Bandiagara escarpment in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, probably as a result of the breakup of the Mali Empire at the beginning of the fifteenth century. 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. According to Shawn R. Davis, this particular ritual incorporates the elements of the yingim and the danyim. The spread of Islam throughout Africa has brought about some degree of change in the basic religious orientation of the Dogon. 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, 7273). "The dual soul is a danger; a man should be male, and a woman female. They call themselves "Dogon" or "Dogom," but in the older literature they are referred to as "Habbe" (sing. WebMost Dogon sculptures are carved for personal or family use, to commemorate the founding of a community, or for community worship. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Among the Dogon, several oral traditions have been recorded as to their origin. The Dogon are primarily agriculturists, their principal crops being millet, sorghum, rice, onions, beans, tobacco, and sorrel. The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. Their images or figures appeared on the female side of the Dogon sanctuary. The largest ginnas are subdivided into several families, or tire togo (sing.). Its head, called the ginna bana, is the oldest living male member of his generation. The historical pattern included the murder of indigenous males by raiders and enslavement of women and children. This was to prevent a being like the Jackal from ever being born on Earth again. "[52] 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. The name of the country was changed to "French Sudan," and French administrators levied taxes and introduced currency reforms (e.g., French francs to replace the native cowrie shells). But after this generation, human beings were usually born single. About 10 percent of the Dogon are Christians. Most young men leave their villages to seek jobs in the cities of Mali and on the Ivory Coast; most of their earnings are sent home to their families. All of the men in his age-set live together in a due until they marry and have children. 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Each sector of the Dogon Country had its hogon or spiritual leader, who passed on his power from father to son. They communicated a knowledge that went deep into the origins of human beings. WebThe Hogan performs a diverse array of political and social functions and is a master of trade and commerce. [12] [47][48] 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. ETHNONYMS: Dogom, Dogono, Habbe, Hambbe, Makbe, Tombo, Tommo, Toro, Identification. WebThe Dogon religion is the traditional African beliefs of the Dogon of Mali. A virgin who has not yet had her period takes care of him, cleans his house, and prepares his meals. "hogon | African religious leader | Britannica", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hogon&oldid=1122616271, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 November 2022, at 14:57. The danyim is held a couple of months later. Then, two things happened: either Chaos or Gaia created the universe as we know it, or Ouranos and Tethys gave birth to the first beings. African religions: Ritual and religious specialists. [57] 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.[58]. Medicine. Marriage into the occupational castessuch as that of blacksmithsis strongly prohibited. [citation needed] The selection of a wife is carried out by the man's parents. The concept of death and rebirth is also contained within Dogon mythology. [51], 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. The Cliff of Bandiagara, a beautiful and unique escarpment, is home to the Dogon people and culture, and because of its worldwide importance, was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1989. After initiation, he wears a red cap, and a pearl bracelet. [28] Today, a significant minority of the Dogon practice Islam. and are commonly hidden from the public eye within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the Hogon (Laude, 20). However I am astonished you can write this article and encourage people to visit with no reference to recent history and the significant insecurity and frequent killings in the area. Identification. It is advisable to hire a guide with a car as the area is remote. 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. There are three principal 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. Man in Peru Caught Out Drinking With an 800-year-old Mummy! Plains, escarpment, and plateau represent distinctive features in the region. Other fauna include crocodiles (in the swampy areas on the plain), reptiles, monkeys, guenons, guinea hens, hyenas, foxes, panthers, rabbits, and small rodents. Gathering activities involve the collecting of wild fruits, nuts and berries, various seeds, leaves, tubers and roots, and honey. Unless arrangements are made to the contrary, a man's property is inherited by his eldest son, who is expected to provide support for his brothers or assure them of an equal share of the inheritance. Minor regional dialectal differences exist. This leads linguists to conclude that Dogon is likely to have diverged from NigerCongo very early.[when?] [4], The hogon is central to a wide range of fertility and marriage rituals, which are closely related to Dogon origin myths. Universit de Paris, Travaux et Mmoires de l'Institut d'Ethnologie, 33. Due to the expense, the second traditional funeral rituals, or "damas", are becoming very rare. The Dogon also believe in various malevolent and benevolent spirits who populate the bush, trees, and uninhabited places. According to Ogotemmli's description of them, the Nummo, whom he also referred to as "Water", had green skinned covered in green hair, and in form were like human from the loins up, but serpent below. The virgin is replaced by one of his wives, and she also returns to her home at night. "[55] 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. [56], 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. In general, Dogon kinship terminology is characterized by a classificatory system of "vocatives," terms of reference based on politeness and respective age of the interlocutor, and a descriptive system expressed by "determinatives," by means of which a third person is apprised of the relationship that exists between the speaker and the individual addressed. The idea has entered the New Age and ancient astronaut literature as evidence that extraterrestrial aliens visited Mali in the distant past. Dogons originated for the first time from the West bank of Niger around 1490 Houses may never be sold because the sites on which they stand belongs to the descendants of the old inhabitants, who have control over who occupies the house. 16th-20th Century. [25] There has been extensive speculation about the origin of such astronomical knowledge. Identification. Among the interesting Dogon buildings are communal meeting houses for men (Togu Na) and the grinna, which are family homes. WebDogon or Tellem peoples (?) The Hogon The Hogon is an elderly male, spiritual leader of the Dogon village who lives alone in a hut constructed, furnished, and decorated to symbolize the universe. Wood and metal and more. This theme was fundamental to the Dogon religion. Sadly, these days the culture of the Dogon is under threat as many have converted to other religions. The colour white was a symbol of males. The Dogon dialects are highly distinct from one another and many varieties are not mutually intelligible, actually amounting to some 12 dialects and 50 sub-dialects. They have been linked to the Mande subfamily but also to Gur. Organisation sociale des dogon (Soudan Franais). The appealing factor lies in many raw, visual, fetishized pursuits and compelling cultural narratives. Another 10% practices Christianity. Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? Dogon society is organized by a patrilineal kinship system. Monogamy is the major form of marriage, although nonsororal polygyny with a limit of two wives is permitted. Masques dogons. Beierle, John "Dogon Another 10% practices Christianity. Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie. Although Temple fails to prove its antiquity, the evidence for the recent acquisition of the information is still entirely circumstantial. There are twelve categories of disease considered treatable, each with its own specific healer who has special knowledge of the specific plant that will bring about a cure. Kado), a Fulbe word meaning "stranger" or "pagan.". In another case of natures wrath rearing its head, flash floods have struck the iconic world heritage site at Petra, Jordan, forcing the evacuation of 1,700 tourists . Division of Labor. They purchase sugar, salt, European merchandise, and many animal products, such as milk, butter, and dried fish. All initiated Dogon men participate in Awa, with the exception of some caste members. Trade. Of the native fauna in the region, large carnivores and ruminants have become rare, with only a few medium-sized mammals being found in the cliffs. This custom is repeated over and over, throughout a Dogon village, all day. Months later include sesame, maize, Land was transmitted within the husband 's compound houses! Into your bibliography or works cited list the evidence for the recent acquisition of the men his! Were primarily symbolized by the sun, which boast all these features wife is out. She also returns to her home at night days the culture of the yingim and the danyim her period care... Form of marriage, the first Dogon settlement was established in the extreme southwest of the Azores Remnants of Dogon... As well as regions of geological, archaeological, or hogon within the dogon culture community worship villages numerous! Wonders, as well as regions of geological, archaeological, or historical significance which! Their origin society, Land was transmitted within the husband 's compound raiders and enslavement of and! Is permitted with Ogotemmeli took place and quarter brightest objects in the night sky are the.... 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