The Dogon

This little boy was cracking me up with the way he was wearing his sunglasses on top of his cap.  When I asked him to smile for me to take his picture, this is what he did.

The Dogon are people who live in a rocky region of Mali, and the desert region of Northern Burkina.  If I understand their history correctly, as they came into this region of Mali, they displaced another people group called the Tellam who now live in northern Burkina. 

The Tellam lived high in the cliffs in the areas where you see wholes and openings which are natural caves in the rock face.  It is amazing to see this, because no one really understands how the Tellam climbed up the cliff face.  They are also pygmys (my ancient ancestors).  Most people think that they used rope ladders to accend and descend, but the Dogon say that they flew.  In fact, the Dogon say that the Tellam still come to visit them in their villages although no one has ever seen them.  They come as the wind whenever they make their sacrifices, but they leave just as quickly as they come.

Today, the Dogon use these cave entrances to bury their dead.  They told me that when you enter one of these caves there are many rooms inside so many people can be buried in each cave.  The ones that are closed, are the ones that they use for burials.

In these 2 pictures, you can see the "modern" Dogon houses built on the face of the rock.  In the second picture, you see the Dogon houses below and the Tellam houses above.

The Dogon are also famous for the onions that they grow.  It is about the only thing that they can get to grow on the rocks.

They still use traditional practices as well.  This is a place for divining the future.  When someone has a question, they meet the village elders here and ask for their wisdom and direction about future things.  That night, they believe the fox comes and leaves the answer in the sand with his footprints.

The men of the village meet to discuss many matters under the toganaw (I know that I didn't spell that right).  They stack their millet on top of the roof of the toganaw to show how traditional their village is.  The taller the stack, the more traditional the village.

They live on the edge of the Sahara Desert.  I was reminded many times as we drove of the song I sang as a child, "Don't build your house on the sand land....you better build your house upon the rock..."  I thought that song seemed to be pretty fitting under the circumstances.

Start of the Sahara Desert

I have put together an album of pictures concerning the Dogon if you'd like to see more.  It was altogether an amazing trip and I learned a lot about the people.

Dogon