MALİ - THE DOGON COUNTRY

I had already gone to Africa for a safari. In my opinion, chasing lions and elephants once  in  a lifetime is enough. I wanted to mingle with people. And I chose Mali.  So İn October 2006, with five other friends, I went to Mali and I found there an amazing people, the Dogon. 

We headed for the Falaise de Bandiagara, an escarpment in the Sahel, stretching over more than 140 kms. The vertical cliffs are 200 to 300 meters high and offer spectacular views. This area is inhabited by the Dogon tribe and is called the Dogon Country. 
The 4x4 Toyota Landcruisers we were travelling in were well suited for the rough sandy tracks that led us to the escarpment. The scenery was absolutely stunning with semi-arid grasslands, sandy desert, Baobab trees with small villages amidst. 

THE FLAT SANDY DESERT AND THE ESCARPMENT ON THE HORİZON

Centuries ago,the Dogon People fled southward into their current home as a result of their collective refusal to convert to Islam and to escape slave raids from Muslim kingdoms to the North . In doing so they were able to preserve not only their freedom but their animist faith as well. 

The most striking feature of Dogon Country are the villages perched along the escarpment. To feel secure, the Dogons built their villages into the cliff faces themselves. They were not the first to do this though because before they arrived the Tellems who lived in the area did the same and the remains of Tellem villages can still be seen into the cliff at incredible heights. Nobody is quite sure how the Tellems reached their houses but it is probable the area was forested at that time and they simply climbed trees. Or they could have dropped ropes from cliff tops and slid down. Nobody knows. The Dogons simply believe the Tellem could fly and did so to reach their houses. These ancient people were displaced by the Dogon and are believed to have migrated to central Africa. Today the Tellem dwellings have become burial sites for the Dogon . 
Both Tellem and Dogon villages are initially hard to spot. The falaise is a red-brown color and the Dogons built their houses out of mud, so they blend perfectly into the background. 

ON THOSE CLİFFS I BOUGHT A MASK NOW
DECORATİNG  A WALL İN MY APARTMENT
İN ISTANBUL 

Dogon country is a poor area that lives mainly on subsistence agriculture and livestock. As such you can often see Dogon women pilling millet. And they laugh a lot when you join them. 

Let us now visit a Dogon village, Songho,  where people still reside (since some villages are just ruins). To visit a Dogon village you start at the bottom and then climb up.  Let us climb then. 

Dogon dwellings are made of two fundamental building blocks: houses and granaries. The granaries can be from one to three meters high and all have the same design: they are box-shaped, about twice as high as they are wide at the bottom, have only one entrance, one conical roof of straw and are raised several centimeters off the ground to protect against water and vermin. And such granaries are everywhere giving Dogon villages their distinctive look. 
The houses are more standard, made of rocks and mud bricks and covered with mud on the outside. The roofs are flat to store things or sleep at night. 

                               
                                      GRANARY                                                  STEPS TO ENTER A HOUSE

VİLLAGE ELDERS WATCHİNG TOURİSTS

A DOGON BEAUTY

WE ARE CLİMBİNG UP THROUGH THE VİLLAGE

JUST A FEW DAYS OLD I WOULD SAY

The nerve of each Dogon village is the ''Toguna'', a low-roofed shelter in the center of town where the men of the village get together to chat, smoke, drink and , it seems, fall asleep as well as settle disputes. The Toguna is especially built to allow people to sit or squat but not to stand up since like that discussions cannot turn into fights. How clever, I would say. Women are not allowed into the Toguna - even Dogons are sexist. Will it ever end ? 

THE CARVED PİLLARS REPRESENT THEMES OF DOGON COSMOLOGY

             
                          ANİMİST FETİSHES                                                                                                                                                                                                               TRY GOİNG UP THOSE STEPS
                                                                                                                       AND SEE!!!!

WE ARE UP -
GENERAL VİEW OF THE VİLLAGE

GRANARİES

FLAT-ROOFED HOUSES 

Climbing a little bit more we reach a cave with paintings on the walls. Where are we ? This is the Circumcision Cave. Circumcision ceremonies take place very three years for Muslim Dogons.  The village's boys are brought here, circumcised and stay here for 15 days before going back home. During their stay, they all paint on the rock the sign of their families. So those paintings exist since the 16th century, and are refreshed every three years. When asked about woman circumcision, you never get an answer and the question is best avoided but it seems the girls also spend some time in those caves. Poor girls ! Those archaic beliefs kill me. 

All of a sudden, the wind brought clouds and sand started blowing everywhere , reaching even inside my mouth. But the view of the village was unbelievable, cloudy and mystical. 

In another Dogon village, Tireli, I watched the ''Funeral Masquerade Dance of the Dogon'', an unforgettable experience and not very touristic yet since the whole thing was staged for our group. We climbed to the village ''square'' and realised the village (and surrounding village) elders were sitting around an area cleared for the dance . Some of those elders are responsible for ensuring correctness of protocol and dance proceedings, with long sticks in their hand. They correct any errors made during the dance with a gentle tap of the stick on the dancer. 

TİRELİ VİLLAGE

GRANARİES

VİLLAGE ELDERS ALL İN İNDİGO GOWNS

TYPİCAL DOGON HAT 

The people of the village gathered and will be watching too. Fun day for them. 

All of a sudden, drummers and bell bearers started their unique trance inducing beat. 

The dance began and more and more dancers entered the area, all wearing masks and each mask representing a character. Men on stilts, men wearing wooden breasts (and representing women since women are not allowed to dance), animals, spirits, all were present and the dancers were walking, shaking, hopping, swaying rhythmically in one of the most interesting events I have ever witnessed. The purpose of this ritual is to lead the soul of the departed to his final resting place.  

The masks are each more interesting than the other. 

THE MOST İMPORTANT MASK OF THE DOGONS.
THE UPPER HORİZONTAL PİECE OF WOOD REPRESENTS THE SKY
AND THE LOWER ONE THE EARTH. 

COWS AND BULLS

                                                                                                                                                  WİTH  BREASTS, THESE ARE WOMEN.

 But while traditional Dogon culture is animist , it would be wrong to say that the Dogon as a whole remain animist. Many Dogons have adopted other religions, namely Islam and Christianity, and conversion from traditional beliefs is ongoing. Nevertheless, actually a person can be Muslim and animist at the same time so I hope the Dogon keep their traditions.Otherwise,  in some not so distant years we could be watching this ceremony during a specific festival organised for the tourist .  And that would be a pity .   

AlI this was a very memorable experience I am happy to have lived and which should not be missed. I will write more about Mali later. See you then !