The Dogon: The Tribe that Stunned the World (Part I)

K A N A G A

The Dogon Symbol

The Dogon are an ethnic group located in Mali in the Bandiagara district. This region can be divided in the plain, the cliffs and the plateau.

Withijn these regions the Dogon population of about 300 000 is most heavily concentrated along a 200 km stretch of scarpment called the Cliffs os Bandiagara.

This cliffs provides a spectacular physical setting for Dogon villages built on the sides of the escarpment. There are aprox. 700 villages of this tribe, most with fewer than 500 inhabitants.

"The precise origin of the Dogon, like those of many other ancient cultures, is undetermined. their civilization emerged, in much the same manner as ancient Sumer, both sharing tales of their creation by Gods who came from the sky in space ships, who allegedly will return one day."

Their religious beliefs are enourmously complex and knowledge of them varies greatly within the Dogon society. Dogon religion is defined primarily through the workship of the ancestors and the spirits whom they encountered as they slowly migrated from their obscure ancestral homelands to the Bandiagara cliffs. they were called the "Nommo".

There are three principal cults among the Dogon; the Awa, Lebe and Binu.


The Awa is the cult of the dead, whose purpose is to reorder the spiritual forces disturbed by the death of Nommo, a mythological ancestor of great importance to the Dogon.

Members of the Awacult dance with ornate carved painted masks during both funeral and death anniversary ceremonies. there are 78 different types of ritual masks among them and their iconographic messages goes beyond the aesthetic, into the realm of religion and philosophy.

The primary purpose of Awa dance ceremonies is to lead souls of the deceased to their final lace in the family altars and to consecrate their passage to the ranks of the ancestors.

The cult of Lebe, the Earth God, is primarily concerned with the agricultural cycle and its chief priest is call "Hogon".

All Dogon villages hav a Lebe shrine whose altars have nits of earth incoporated into them to encourage the continued fertilit of the land.

According to their beliefs, the god Lebe vsits the hogons every night in the form of a serpent and licks their skins in roder to purify them and infuse them with the life force. The hogons are responsible for guarding the purity of the sooil and therefore officiate at many agricultural ceremonies. (Serpent: Metaphor of DNA, remember)

The cult of Binu is a totemic practice and it has complex associations with the Dogon´s sacred places used for ancestor worship, spirit communication and agricultural sacrifices. Binu shrines house of mythic ancestors who lived in the legendary era before the appearance of the death aming mankind. Binu spirits often make themselves known to their descendants in the form of an animal that interceded on behalf the clan during its founding or migration, this becoming the clan`s totem.

For croping and intervention of the immortal ancestor is desidered, priests make blood sacrifices in the Sanctuaries. Trough such rituals, the dogon believe that the benevolent force of the ancestor is transmitted to them.

The "Kanaga" masks contain geometric paterns. These masks represents the first human beigns. The Dogon believes that the Dama dance creates a bridge into the supernatural world. Withput this dance, the dead cannot cross over into peace.

Their self defense comes from their social solidarity which is based on a complex combination of philosophic and religious dogmas, the fundamental law being the worshio of the ancestors. Ritual masks and corpses are used for ceremonies and are kept in caves. The Dogon are both Muslims and Animists.

A "Togu Na", the House of Words, stands in every Dogon village and marks the male social enter, The low cealing, supported by carved or sculptured posts, prevents over zealous discussions from escalating into fights. Symbolic meanung surrounds the Togu Na.

On the Gondo plain, Togu Na pillars are carved out of Kile wood and often express themes of fertility and procreation. Many of the carvings are of women`s breasts, for as a Dogon proverb says; "The breast is second only to God.", we can see here the importance of women in their society. Beautiful.

A dogon Fox diviner make interpretations of the footprints of foxes in the sand. In this ritual he drives meaning and makes predictions from grids and symbols in the sand. At dusk he draws questions in the sand for the sacred fox to answer.

The Dogon people believe the fox has supernatural powers. In the morning the Diviner will read the fox prints.