Dogon Country
The
second week of our voyage took us into Dogon country. Considered to
be one of the oldest cultures in West Africa, the Dogon have been the
subject of intense anthropological study, and it is claimed by some
that the cosmology and wisdom teachings of the dogon are descended from
the empire of ancient Egypt. Our entry into Dogon country involved driving
from Sevare to Bandiagara where we prepared for a week of hiking up,
down and alongside the Bandiagara escarpment. This stunning cliff formation
extends for hundreds of miles across southern Mali marking the end of
the plateau region of the north and the beginning of the vast plains
of the south. In the attached photo the group, accompanied by our guides,
is about to make our first descent of the escarpment.
"After
spending the night in a Dogon village we were taken up into the cliffs.
These cliffs were once the dwelling place of the Dogon in an era when
the plains were covered with forest and filled with dangerous wildlife.
More recently the annual rainfall has decreased, the forest has become
a semi-arid plain and the Dogon now make their living by growing millet
instead of hunting. The devastating droughts of the 70's and 80's
have now made even growing millet a difficult livelihood. Nevertheless,
the cliffs remain an important historical site and also a place of
spiritual significance for many of the Dogon. We were told that each
village has its own unique totem hidden in the cliffs and that this
object is carried down from its dwelling place only at the most sacred
of times. Having been fully briefed on where we could walk and what
we could photograph we were taken up into the cliffs. The small square
buildings you see in the background are graineries in which each family
stores its millet. Here Adam Scharf
and Will Eichelberger pose next to a passage way from one cliff
dwelling to another. "
"The rest of the morning was spent hiking 8-10 kilometers to another village where we ate lunch and had a kind of informal "panel discussion" with the chief of the village, the village schoolmaster, a number of the village elders and many of the village school children. While we waited for the hottest part of the day to pass we learned that the school in this village was not one of those subsidized by the government. The nearest government school was over a day's walk away. Thus the citizens of this village run their own school and pay the school master's salary. We learned that many of the students in the school come from neighboring villages--some walking 10-12 kilometers round-trip each day and some form even further away who must lodge with families in the village during the week."
"At
the end of the day we once again ascended the cliffs of the Bandiagara
Escarpement and arrived at the village of Benjematou just as the sun
set. As we took our final steps up the steep rock path we were met with
the sounds of drumming and chanting ... it seems we had arrived on the
second day of a three day festival meant to bring luck and blessings
to the village. The Dogon people love to dance and we had often been
told that we could watch a dance put on for tourists, however this was
an actual "fete" celebrated once every three years and we we allowed
to witness a part of it."
"
Benjematou is a village divided into three parts: animist, Christian
and Muslim. As so often in Mali, we saw all of these people living in
a harmonious and interdependent fashion. We were told the fete, which
was itself of animist origin, was celebrated by all members of the village
to which each now ascribed their own significance. The dancer in the
brown grass costume was a kind of mediator between the members of the
village and the masked dancers to come. He was the only one who spoke
to both those of us watching the ceremony and to the masked dancers
themselves. He would often rush at a "spectator" who was out of line
or not paying attention. The figure
in the background is one of the traditional masked Dogon dancers. We
were led to understand that the large mask he is wearing signifies three
things: the U shape at the top signifies the spirit world, the upside
down U shape at the bottom the earthly world, and the vertical piece
signifies the human being who exists in both."
"We spent the night in Benjematou and the next day were taken on a tour of the village. Pictured is Darren Bender with another of our Dogon assistants. The hat Darren is sporting is a traditional one once worn only by the most revered of the elders in a Dogon village. The morning also afforded some time for reflection. Here Tricia Short is seen seated on a stone wall that marks a family compound and in the background are the family's graineries. One of the stops on the walkabout was at the compound of the village weaver. Will Eichelberger took a special interest in this man's exquisite work."
"Benjematou
also had a private school attended by children from all three quarters
of the village. Pictured are the school master on the right next to
our Dogon guide Ouloguem. The children are only a part of the 40 some
students who attend school here daily. We were invited inside where
the children proudly displayed the work for the day which they were
doing on slate tablets." "As we prepared to return to Bamako there was much to contemplate. We had been shown immense hospitality. We had witnessed things few Westerners ever experience. We had adapted, more or less, to life of the Taureg in the Sahara and been exposed to the cliff dwellings of the Dogon. Almost every night we slept on plastic mats on the ground. And every night we did sleep on the ground we were treated to a night sky beyond description. Mali had indeed become our classroom and as we sat on the edge of the escarpement, looking out over the plains that had once been jungle, it felt like we were on the edge of the world. "
