How do the Dogon people make a living?

How do the Dogon people make a living?

They are mainly an agricultural people; their few craftsmen, largely metalworkers and leatherworkers, form distinct castes. They have no centralized system of government but live in villages composed of patrilineages and extended families whose head is the senior male descendant of the common ancestor.

What are the dogons of Mali?

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. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.

What do the dogons believe?

While some villages have adopted Islam or Christianity, a large percentage of Dogon are animists who believe in the importance of a synergy between the spiritual world of gods and ancestors, and the living world of plants, people, and animals.

Who lives in Bandiagara cliffs?

The Bandiagara Escarpment is an escarpment in the Dogon country of Mali. The sandstone cliff rises about 500 m (1,600 ft) above the lower sandy flats to the south. It has a length of approximately 150 km (90 mi). The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon people.

What is the name of the Dogon creator of life on Earth?

Amma
Amma is also credited by the Dogon with having created life on Earth. According to the Dogon myths, there is a principle of twin births in the universe. However, it is said that Amma’s first attempt at intercourse with Earth failed, ultimately producing only a single creature—the jackal.

What do Dogon people eat?

Their main crop is millet, planted at the start of the rainy season. Other crops include rice, beans, peas, peanuts, and sesame.

Who is the leader of the Dogon tribe?

the hogon
Thus, for the Dogon the hogon, or spiritual leader, is not just a simple officiant but a sacred figure. His saliva is the source of the life-giving humidity, and his foot must not touch the earth directly or the ground will dry up.

What are Dogon houses made of?

Earth buildings are common in Dogon Country, but the main construction material in Dogon Country is stone, especially on the plateau. Building with stones is more expensive than building with earth, but clay is hard to find in the rocky landscape and stone houses last longer.

What are Dogon masks made out of?

Following a death, Dogon peoples bury the dead immediately. They dance emina, masks carved from wood and woven from hibiscus fiber, as part of a sequence of rites that are conducted for men long after they are buried.

What does the word Dogon mean?

Definition of Dogon 1 : a member of a people of Mali noted for their sculpture. 2 : the language of the Dogon.

Do the Dogon tribe still exist?

In Bandiagara 80 percent of the population is Dogon. Neighboring tribes include the Peul, the agricultural Mossi, and the Bobo and Bozo, whose main livelihood is fishing. Of the 700 Dogon settlements, most have fewer than 500 inhabitants; only six have more than 2,000.

Can you visit the Dogon tribe?

Dogon Sculpture. It is like wandering through a large outdoor museum, yet Dogon sculpture is never meant to be adornment and especially not for purchase by outsiders. It is always made to preserve their culture. Much of it is not even for public viewing.

Where did the Dogon tribe come from?

The ancestors of the Dogon came from Mande, an area in southwest Mali and northeast Guinea that was home to the thirteenth-century Mali empire. The Dogon migrated after the empire’s collapse to the cliffs of the Bandiagara plateau.

What do Dogon masks stand for?

Dogon masks, such as this one called kanaga, are worn primarily at dama, a collective funerary rite for Dogon men. The ritual’s goal is to ensure the safe passage of the spirits of the deceased to the world of the ancestors.