[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]. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. About 10 percent of the Dogon are Christians. This practice has been passed down for generations and is always followed, even during winter. The spread of Islam throughout Africa has brought about some degree of change in the basic religious orientation of the Dogon. A unique architecture was adapted to the local environment by using mud bricks (adobe) to build tower-like buildings in the most unlikely places on the Cliff of Bandiagara, including rock shelters. Houses are built extremely close together, many times sharing walls and floors. Caste boys do not get circumcised.[31]. The Chilling Mystery of the Octavius Ghost Ship, What is a Wendigo? Its head, called the ginna bana, is the oldest living male member of his generation. The principal domestic animals are sheep, goats, donkeys, dogs, chickens, guinea fowls, ducks, some cattle, a few horses, and cats. This theme was fundamental to the Dogon religion. & Hollyman, Stephenie (photographs) & Walter E.A. 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. WebDogon families are tied to one of the eight ancestral groups as per the four sets of twins in Dogon cosmogony and religion. "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. 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". The blind Dogon elder Ogotemmeli taught the main symbols of the Dogon religion to French anthropologist Marcel Griaule in October 1946. WebThe Hogon must live alone in his house. The term "Punjabi" signifies both an inhabitant of the Punjab and a speaker of the predominant Language, Wolof Dieterlen, G., 1955. The human story begins in Africa. There is no indigenous political integration above the local (village) or district level. The appealing factor lies in many raw, visual, fetishized pursuits and compelling cultural narratives. ', This alludes to reports that the Dogon knew of another star in the Sirius system, mm Ya, or a star "larger than Sirius B but lighter and dim in magnitude". WebThe Dogon religion is the traditional African beliefs of the Dogon of Mali. Also regional and dialect group names: Chinbok, Chinbon, Dai, Kuku, Lai (s, Karen The principal ceremonies center around agriculture and death. The curvilinear design and the accompanying child suggest a female. Identification. 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. [12], It is often difficult to distinguish between pre-Muslim practices and later practices. 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. Plains, escarpment, and plateau represent distinctive features in the region. 15th19th century. 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. "The jackal was alone from birth," said Ogotemmli, "and because of this he did more things than can be told. Top image: Cliff of Bandiagara Source: Public Domain, Bolland, R. (1991). The cliffs and rocky terrain provided excellent protection from slave The Hogon is the spiritual and political leader of the village. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. There are two endogamous castes in Dogon society: the smiths and the leather-workers. 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. Those fields that are not repurchased subsequently become individual property. 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. The Yana Gulay mask's purpose is to impersonate a Fulani woman, and is made from cotton cloth and cowl shells. The Dogon are Highest in the order of supernatural beings is Amma, the supreme creator god, the master of life and death, a benevolent albeit impersonal being who prevails over all, sees all, and knows all. Unlike norms for the rest of society, parallel-cousin marriage is allowed within castes. . Dogon CultureProfane and Arcane . In this ceremony, offerings of millet from the hogon's fields, in conjunction with sacrifices by the Binu priest (binukedine ) on the Lebe altar of the ancestors, impart to the seed the spiritual essence or nyama that will contribute toward the community's assurance of an abundant harvest. There are two major events at which the Awa perform: the 'sigi' ritual and 'dama' funeral rituals.[35]. The neighboring Fulani have been largely instrumental in transmitting the Islamic faith to the Dogon. Circumcision is believed to eliminate the superfluous one. The colour white was a symbol of males. 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.[38]. [13] As the growth of cities increased, the demand for slaves across the region of West Africa also increased. Davis, Shawn R. Dogon Funerals in African Art; Summer 2002, Vol. Among the Dogon, several oral traditions have been recorded as to their origin. In Dogon Each large district has a hogon, or spiritual leader, and there is a supreme hogon for the whole country. In his dress and behaviour the hogon symbolizes the Dogon myth of creation, to which the Dogon relate much of their social organization and culture. Each district had its own recognized war leaders. In addition to agriculture, the women gather wild fruits, tubers, nuts, and honey in the bush outside of village borders. 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. 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. [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. Also effective as means of inducing conformity are ridicule and threats of supernatural sanction. After Mali's independence from France in 1960, a 40-kilometer road was built from Bandiagara to Sanga, which further disrupted traditional life. Above the lineage is the much larger kin group called the clan, from which the various lineages emerge. Because of his solitary state, the first son of God acted as he did. 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. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. It seems likely that the Dogon people are an amalgamation of several groups who resisted Islamization. [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. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there existcountless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts thathave yet to be discovered and explained. (2008). The horse, symbolizing power and wealth, is ); Brooklyn Museum, Sculpture, probably an ancestor figure; 17th18th century; wood; height: 59cm (23 in. WebThe Dogon are renowned for their attachment to African Culture and traditions, and in Mali, I have witnessed many difficult mental illnesses being cured by Dogon healers, called the Hogon, which is the name for the Dogon priest. Dogon society is organized by a patrilineal kinship system. The fundamental unit of Dogon social organization is the patrilineage, or ginna. Kado), a Fulbe word meaning "stranger" or "pagan.". Similarly each village may have their own way of performing the dama rituals. Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, Aluxes: The Mischievous Little People of Maya Mythology, The Marriage of the Sky and the Sea: Visayan Creation Myths, Alleged Sighting of the Mythical Manananggal in the Philippines Causes Public Anxiety, The Irish Story and Legend of C Chulainn, New Evidence Shows Humans Were Using Bows and Arrows in 52,000 BC, 6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. [2], The hogon has a key role in village rituals and in ensuring fertility[3] and germination. The private property of a woman goes first to her daughter, then to the youngest sister. The binou, which is usually in animal form serves as a representation of the ancestor. Hogon live alone and should be celibate, but a village girl may act as a maid. Pottery and spinning are the exclusive domain of women, whereas basketry and weaving are male activities. Although Temple fails to prove its antiquity, the evidence for the recent acquisition of the information is still entirely circumstantial. It is likely that the Dogon of today are descendants of several groups of diverse origin who migrated to escape Islamization. Division of Labor. The vast majority of marriages are monogamous, but nonsororal polygynous marriages are allowed in the Dogon culture. On average, a village contains around 44 houses organized around the 'ginna', or head man's house. This is manifested through the cult of the masks, the Lebe cult, the Binu cult, and the more general cult of the ancestors associated with the ginna. 16th-20th Century. From the mythical stroy of creation from the Dogon culture, hogon is seen as the spiritual leader of the Dogon social culture. This leads linguists to conclude that Dogon is likely to have diverged from NigerCongo very early.[when?] [8][9][10], Over time, the Dogon moved north along the escarpment, arriving in the Sanga region in the 15th century. 575577, Index of African mythology and creation narratives, List of African deities and mythical figures, Traditional African religion and other religions, "Population dynamics and Paleoclimate over the past 3000 years in the Dogon Country, Mali", "Did the Dogon of Mali know about Sirius B? [3], The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture, and their architecture. Biographies - Hogon | African Religious Leader | Britannica He has an armband with a sacred pearl that symbolises his function. According to this oral tradition, the first Dogon settlement was established in the extreme southwest of the escarpment at Kani-Na. The hogon is always a man. Some of the species represented in the area are the doom palm, the baobab, and various leguminous fruit-bearing plants. Because the word sewa is so commonly repeated throughout a Dogon village, neighboring peoples have dubbed the Dogon the sewa people. 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. 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. There are three principal The leather-workers engage in significant trade with other ethnic groups and accumulate wealth. Associated with regeneration It is advisable to hire a guide with a car as the area is remote. Nearby is a cave where music instruments are stored. 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. Another minority practices Christianity. Women are forbidden from joining and prohibited from learning sigi so. The first wife, or ya biru, holds a higher position in the family relative to any wives from later marriages. [5], The hogon may conduct rituals in the Sanctuaire de Binou, a special building the door of which is blocked with rocks. Within Dogon culture, an individuals status is determined by position within a family group according to rules of descent and age. This custom is repeated over and over, throughout a Dogon village, all day. Social stratification among the Dogon is similar in many respects to that found in other societies in West Africa. [citation needed][why?] This chief head is the oldest living son of the ancestor of the local branch of the family. Erosion of the sandstone has left a number of remarkable features, such as caves, rock shelters, and dunes. There is also a secret ritual language sigi s (language of Sigi), which is taught to dignitaries (olubar) of the Society of the Masks during their enthronement at the Sigui ceremony. ." Each Dogon village, or enlarged family, is headed by one male elder. WebStudy with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Sculpture Tellem, Mali. and are commonly hidden from the public eye within the houses of families, sanctuaries, or kept with the Hogon (Laude, 20). Current Anthropology, Vol. Religious Practitioners. [20] The religion embraced many aspects of nature which are found in other traditional African religions. Some young men will hunt for small game, but wild animals are relatively scarce near villages. The other factor influencing their choice of settlement location was access to water. In his dress and behaviour the hogon symbolizes the Dogon myth of creation, to which the Dogon relate much of their social organization and culture. All the rites and ceremonies involve, in varying degrees of complexity, offerings and sacrifices, mock battles, and the prominent display of the carved masks (generally through their use in the elaborate dances of the masked society). Paulme, Denise (1940). It is truly one of the most impressive regions in Sub-Saharan Africa . The escarpment, because of its geology, provided a natural stronghold for several societies. [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. "[49], Griaule's daughter Genevive 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". The extensive escarpment runs for over 93 miles (150 km) and it is between 300 and 900 feet (100 - 500 meters) high. Medicine. The great annual Feast of Sowing (bulu ) begins in April or May, prior to the beginning of the rainy season, in all the villages of the region. Area are the exclusive Domain of women, whereas basketry and weaving are male activities tied to of! As the area are the doom palm, the hogon has a key in. The patrilineage, or spiritual leader, and honey in the basic orientation. Nuts, and dunes this leads linguists to conclude that Dogon is likely that the social... 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