The History of the Dogon People

The history of the Dogon people continues to fascinate and capture individuals around the world due to their mythology, art, wooden mask and their architecture. It is estimated that there are 800,000 Dogon people today, who live in the central plateau region of Mali.

Archaeological evidence shows that in the region where the Dogon people live today, there was a culture called the Tellem who lived there before. After the Dogon people fled west to escape their Islamic neighbours, who were acting as slave merchants, it is unclear whether the Dogon assimilated the Tellem or whether they were killed. No traces of the Tellem before the 14th century CE have been found, and since then the Dogon culture has thrived (Ghent, p.75).

One of the reasons the Dogon people are very well known in due to astronomy. The Dogon ritual calendar is allegedly dominated by a Sirius, the main star in the Canis Major star constellation, according to two French anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. They lived with the Dogon people for 25 years and were eventually initiated into the tribe. They claimed that the Dogon people knew that Sirius had a small white dwarf companion (Sirius B), and that this companion was in fact accompanied by another smaller companion (Sirius B) (van Beck, p.50), although it should be stressed that Sirius C does not exists. This was most intriguing and puzzling to academics and the general public, as the Dogon people never had a telescope and Sirius B cannot be seen by the naked eye. To this date, Griaule and Dieterlen’s work is being questioned by academics.

The Dogon people are famous for their beautiful artworks, sculptures and wooden masks in particular and are religious in purpose. Their sculpture emphasizes an ascetic, abstract verticality and clearly shows the skilfulness of the artists.

Twins are seen as lucky in Dogon culture, as the first beings and the first two generations of human ancestors are pairs of twins in their mythology and most of the ancestors of the human race were twin couples, according to the Dogon exegesis (Richardson, p.53).

With the steady increase of commercial tourism and interest from anthropologists and archaeologists, the Dogon culture has been seen to be losing its cultural heritage. The history of the Dogon people is both illuminating and fascinating and can offer us great insight not only into the history of Africa, but also of small minorities around the world. 

Bibliography:

Ghent, Gregory (1982) Art of the Dogon Cliff Dwellers, African Arts, UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Centre.

Lane, Paul J. (1988) Tourism and Social Change Among the Dogon, African Arts, UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Centre.

Richardson, John Adkins (1977) Speculations on Dogon Iconography, African Arts, UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Centre.

van Beck, Walter E. A. (2004) Experiences from the Restudy of the Dogon, History in Africa, African Studies Association.