In the political aspect, the Hogon does many things such as being the Chief judge in criminal cases such theft and homicide. Each isolated village or district (canton) in the region has a headman or chief (hogon) who has both religious and judicial responsibilities. The Dogon are primarily agriculturalists and cultivate millet, sorghum and rice, as well as onions, tobacco, peanuts, and some other vegetables. Death and Afterlife. Other fauna include crocodiles (in the swampy areas on the plain), reptiles, monkeys, guenons, guinea hens, hyenas, foxes, panthers, rabbits, and small rodents. The yingim consists of both the sacrifice of cows, or other valuable animals, and mock combat. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. Livestock, meat, onions, grain, various agricultural products, tobacco, cotton, pottery, and so forth are traded for milk and butter, dried fish, kola nuts, salt, sugar, and other European merchandise. Orientation ." Religious Beliefs. 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). Inheritance. 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. "[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". [12] The orbit cycle takes 50 years. Griaule, Marcel (1938). Current Anthropology, Vol. 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. 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. Orientation The cliff is not far from the city of Bandiagara in western Mali. Encyclopedia of World Cultures. [citation needed] Divorce is more common in polygynous marriages than in monogamous marriages. 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. It is thus mysterious that there are so few references to the planets in ancient literature. Top image: Cliff of Bandiagara Source: Public Domain, Bolland, R. (1991). ETHNONYMS: Chelofes, Galofes, Guiolof, Gyloffes, Ialofes, Iolof, Jalof, Jolof, Olof, Ouoloff, Valaf, Volof, Wollufs, Yaloffs, Yolof Masks used during the yincomoli ceremony include the Yana Gulay, Satimbe, Sirige, and Kanaga. A hogon is a religious figure as well as a temporal authority;[1] the hogon may be hereditary or may be chosen from among the village elderscustom varies from place to place. Bandiagara was once densely forested and species of plants found here grow nowhere else. [citation needed][why?] Heaven on Earth? Ritual dance of Dogon County (Gleeson, G / CC BY 2.0 ). 1000-1500 AD, Dogon Sculpture, Mali. "[46], More recently, doubts have been raised about the validity of Griaule and Dieterlen's work. Photographs of masked dancers, first taken in 1907, as well as examples of native art work, soon made their way into Europe and the United States, catching the interest and curiosity of the Western world. Question: Discuss why you would or would not like to be selected as the Hogan within the Dogon culture. Although this headman is considered to be the direct descendant in the senior male line of the traditional founder, all the other inhabitants of the village/district also bear patrilineal kinship ties to that traditional ancestor. 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. A secret language known as sigi so is used by members of the men's society (awa ) in connection with religious rites. This problem has been solved! The horse, symbolizing power and wealth, is The Iraqi city of Erbil is truly magnificent - and in many ways. Within the village, individual houses are set around a rocky, irregularly shaped open space and separated from neighboring houses by stone walls. Their bodies are treated 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"). Division of Labor. 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. The At this time, new masks are carved and dedicated to the ancestors. The appealing factor lies in many raw, visual, fetishized pursuits and compelling cultural narratives. Identification. Elaborate ceremonial stools of this kind were owned by the hogon, the supreme religious and political leader in each Since the late 20th century, the Dogon have developed peaceful trading relationships with other societies and have thereby increased variety in their diets. [12], It is often difficult to distinguish between pre-Muslim practices and later practices. Marriages are endogamous in that the people are limited to marry only persons within their clan and within their caste.[29]. It is truly one of the most impressive regions in Sub-Saharan Africa . Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? Ciarcia, Gaetano "Dogons et Dogon. Social Organization. Clusters of from 5 to 6 of these villages center around water holes or wells, and each cluster is referred to as a "canton" or "district." "[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. It was first inhabited by the Tellem, Stone Age hunters, at least 10,000 years ago. 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". Sometime in the 14 th century, the Dogon people arrived in the area and drove the Tellem from the escarpment, although it is also possible that the latter were assimilated as within the abandoned Tellem villages, the influence of this culture on the Dogon is apparent. Dogon damas include the use of many masks, which they wore by securing them in their teeth, and statuettes. Encyclopedia.com. The Kanaga masqueraders, at one point, dance and sit next to the bundkamba, which represents the deceased. A virgin who has not yet had her period takes care of him, cleans his house, and prepares his meals. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. In the shadowy world of ancient warfare, one weapon stood out as a true marvel: Greek fire. 35 Issue 2. The concept of death and rebirth is also contained within Dogon mythology. ', 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". Political Organization. Above the lineage is the much larger kin group called the clan, from which the various lineages emerge. 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). All agree, however, that they learned about the star from Griaule. A man may now sell a field allotted to him in the distribution of ginna property, but the sale is always revocable, and the ginna may recover the property upon the death of the seller through the reimbursement of the purchase price to the buyer. [24] (Originally, for the Dogon, man was endowed with a dual soul. Wood, covered with sacrifical materials, Seated Couple, Dogon, Mali. Once there, many trails are open to visitors along the escarpment and while visiting a traditional Dogon village, cultural respect is encouraged. Dogon lineage is patrilineal, meaning [15] These jihadic expeditions formed themselves to force the Dogon to abandon their traditional religious beliefs for Islam. A hogon is a spiritual leader in a Dogon village who plays an important role in Dogon religion. Today, at least 35% of the Dogon practice Islam. The idea has entered the New Age and ancient astronaut literature as evidence that extraterrestrial aliens visited Mali in the distant past. A few villages also keep bees. Of the many fascinating fossil sites in Africa, an important one is the Cradle of Humankind outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. Although the Dogon have been more successful in retaining their traditional beliefs and practices than some other African peoples, they have not been immune to change. The principal domestic animals are sheep, goats, donkeys, dogs, chickens, guinea fowls, ducks, some cattle, a few horses, and cats. 16th-20th Century. . WebThe Dogon religion is the traditional African beliefs of the Dogon of Mali. Women may leave their husbands early in their marriage, before the birth of their first child. 'Sigi' is a society-wide ritual to honor and recognize the first ancestors. Kado), a Fulbe word meaning "stranger" or "pagan.". "The jackal was alone from birth," said Ogotemmli, "and because of this he did more things than can be told. Craft skills are well developed among the Dogon, especially the making of pottery and baskets, weaving, wood carving, and leather- and ironworking. Descended from the founding ancestor Dyon, the hogon Griaule describes it in this passage: Most of the conversations with Ogotemmli had indeed turned largely on twins and on the need for duality and the doubling of individual lives. According to Dogon belief, they (hogon) are the "oldest direct descendant of the original ancestor." Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 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. "The dual soul is a danger; a man should be male, and a woman female. [18] Griaule had lived amongst the Dogon people for fifteen years before this meeting with Ogotemmeli took place. But after this generation, human beings were usually born single. The spread of Islam throughout Africa has brought about some degree of change in the basic religious orientation of the Dogon. There are over 200 Dogon villages across the escarpment and each village has a democratically elected headman (Hogon), who is also their spiritual leader. Dieterlen, G., 1955. Another 10% practices Christianity. Explanation. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Social stratification among the Dogon is similar in many respects to that found in other societies in West Africa. Trade. Monogamy is the major form of marriage, although nonsororal polygyny with a limit of two wives is permitted. 32, No. 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. The Dogon believes that the sacred serpent Lebe comes during the night to purify him and communicate wisdom to him. [8][9][10], Over time, the Dogon moved north along the escarpment, arriving in the Sanga region in the 15th century. & E.I.K. Durieux-Boon (2004). The other factor influencing their choice of settlement location was access to water. Encyclopedia.com. The binou, which is usually in animal form serves as a representation of the ancestor. 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. 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 population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000. [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. Medicine. For the ethnic group of the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north of Ghana, see. A new 'sigi' is started every 60 years. Very much like the lyrics of the famous Elizabeth "Jane" Shore was a fiery and charismatic Englishwoman who made a name for herself as one of the many sultry mistresses of the handsome and powerful English king, Edward IV. Craft specialization is determined by gender and caste. This chief head is the oldest living son of the ancestor of the local branch of the family. In a polygynous marriage, the wives reside in separate houses within the husband's compound. Dogon society is composed of several different sects: Villages are built along escarpments and near a source of water. This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 14:24. 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]. 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. Another indication of this is the subjectobjectverb basic word order, which Dogon shares with such early NigerCongo branches as Ijoid and Mande. ", "Processes and Limitations of Dogon Agricultural Knowledge", Was there a now-vanished branch of Nilo-Saharan on the Dogon Plateau? [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. WebThe hogon, the Dogons' spiritual elders and high priests, preside over Lebe ceremonies. Grain is stored in granaries. Women are forbidden from joining and prohibited from learning sigi so. Due to the expense, the second traditional funeral rituals, or "damas", are becoming very rare. Although some Dogon accepted the new regime, many strongly opposed and resisted it for many years. 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