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General Facts on the
Dogon
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appellations | geography/administration |
language | demography | ethnological history | social organization
| religion | life cycle | body | material culture
| A1 |
Usual anthropological designation |
Dogon | | | A2 |
Other names and spellings used |
Dogon, Dogo, Dogom, Habe, Habbe, Kado, Tombo | | | A3 |
Self-designation |
Dogon | | | A4 |
Official name in countries of residence |
Dogon | | | A5 |
Human being (indigenous designation) |
| | | A6 |
Man (indigenous designation) |
| | | A7 |
Woman (indigenous designation) |
| |
| B1 |
Countries of residence |
Mali, Burkina Faso | The Dogon settlement area
| | B2 |
Continent/Areas |
Africa | | | B3 |
Localisation in these countries |
none | | | B4 |
Main towns inhabited |
people | | | B5 |
Climate |
citizen | | | B6 |
Biogeographical landscape |
none | | | B7 |
Official ethnic regions |
none | | | B8 |
Status of ethnic group |
Mission Culturelle de Bandiagara: state institution run with indigenous participation | | | B9 |
Civil status of the individual |
none | | | B10 |
Representation in state institutions |
none | | | B11 |
State protection of culture |
none | | | B12 |
Endemic diseases |
| | | B13 |
Compulsory medical examination and/or vaccination |
| | | B14 |
Cultural and political associations |
| | | B15 |
International representation |
| | | B16 |
International programs targeting this population (aid, cultural revival etc.) |
| | | B17 |
Diasporas |
| |
| C1 |
Language name |
Dogon (and individual names for the strongly differing Dogon dialects) | | | C2 |
Linguistic group |
Not securely classified, as it has affinities to both Mande and Gur languages; could be described as an isolate | | | C3 |
Official standard dialect/language |
Dogon | | | C4 |
Writing used (contemporary) |
| | | C5 |
Writing used (in history) |
none | | | C6 |
UNESCO status of language |
none | | | C7 |
Number of native speakers of their own language |
400.000-800.000 | | | C8 |
Percentage of native speakers of their own language |
nearly 100% | | | C9 |
Number of indigenous people who learned their own language later in life |
nearly 0% | | | C10 |
Percentage of indigenous people who learned their own language later in life |
nearly 100% | | | C11 |
Predominant language in use |
Dogon; Peul, Bambara and French usd to a far lesser extent | | | C12 |
Ratio of people literate in own language |
nearly 0% | | | C13 |
Education in own language |
no (few children attend school, if they do lessons are in Frech, Bambara or Arab) | | | C14 |
Language courses in teaching institutions |
none | | | C15 |
Medias in own language |
Bible translation | | | C16 |
Own contemporary literature (in own language) |
none | | | C17 |
Own contemporary literature (in other language) |
none | |
| D1 |
Reference of census used |
400.000-800.000 | Demography
| | D2 |
Population |
| | | D3 |
Rough population density (persons/km2) |
| | | D4 |
Birth rate |
| | | D5 |
Mortality rate |
| | | D6 |
Growth rate |
Varies from region to region; there is a high proportion of Peul living in the north-east of the Dogon settlement area | | | D7 |
Life expectancy |
| | | D8 |
Fertility |
| | | D9 |
Percentage of native population in residential areas |
| | | D10 |
Literacy rate |
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| E1 |
First European contact |
Krause (1860s) | | | E2 |
First western ethnographic description |
Louis Desplagnes (1907) | | | E3 |
First other ethnographic description |
Leo Frobenius (1911) | | | E4 |
First major ethnographic collection |
Mission Dakar-Djibouti (1931-1933), e.g. Griaule (1938) | | | E5 |
Date of establishment of a permanent administration |
1893: establishment of French colonial rule | | | E6 |
Date of compulsory schooling |
| | | E7 |
Date of independence or autonomy from colonial power |
| |
| F1 |
Main subdivisions in society |
Modern migration of young labour force into cities | | | F2 |
Seasonal variations in social morphology |
Clan, lineage, age-groups | Social organisation
| | F3 |
Residential mobility type |
Sedentary | | | F4 |
Basic dwelling unit |
Extended family | | | F5 |
Basic production unit |
Extended family | | | F6 |
Basic consumption unit |
Extended family | | | F7 |
Basic appropriation unit |
| | | F8 |
Land ownership |
Iroquois | | | F9 |
Kinship terminology type |
Patrilineal | | | F10 |
Descent rule |
Varies strongly from 4 to 10 | | | F11 |
Genealogical memory (in number of generations) |
Ideally matrilateral cross-cousin | | | F12 |
Marriage rule |
Clan, some speciality groups (e.g. blacksmiths) | | | F13 |
Exogamous unit |
| | | F14 |
Relative status of marriage partners |
| | | F15 |
Extension of marriage prohibition |
Yes, up to four spouses | | | F16 |
Polygamy |
Virilocal, patrilocal (formally wives only joined their husband's residence unit after the birth of their first child) | | | F17 |
Residence type after marriage |
Residence pattern is congruent with descent rules | | | F18 |
Relation between descent and residence |
Formally sanctioned | | | F19 |
Pre-marital formal agreement between marriage partners (betrothal) |
| | | F20 |
Marriage arrangements |
| | | F21 |
Kinship degree or category of contribution to marriage arrangement |
Divorce and re-marriage exist | | | F22 |
Divorce - spouse separation |
Castes, age | | | F23 |
Social sanction of adultery |
Yes, social status rises with age and knowledge | | | F24 |
Social stratification |
Professional speciality groups, such as blacksmiths or griots | | | F25 |
Relevance of age for social status |
Village chiefs, traditional religious leader (hogon), today: marabout | | | F26 |
Specialists |
| | | F27 |
Political leadership |
No armed conflicts since imposition of French rule; formerly, depending on the scale of the conflict, clans or villages, or even village conglomerates could form solidary units | | | F28 |
Political unit |
Ancient beliefs reinforced by elders, today also Quran (Coran) | | | F29 |
Solidarity unit in armed conflict |
| | | F30 |
Morality and law agencies |
| |
| G1 |
Main religious system |
Today Islam, formerly and depending on region still today traditional Dogon religion | Traditional beliefs of the Dogon
| | G2 |
Religious organizations or institutions |
Hogon-ship | | | G3 |
New or emerging religious systems |
Islam spreads rapidly, Christian missions have been in place since the 1920s, albeit with little success | | | G4 |
Other religious influences in the past |
| | | G5 |
Seasonal rituals |
| | | G6 |
Main other yearly rituals |
| | | G7 |
Other than yearly rituals (cyclical or periodical) |
| | | G8 |
Types of ritualists (religious specialists) |
| | | G9 |
Mode of access to ritual functions and responsibilities |
| | | G10 |
Specific costume for ritualists (specify) |
| | | G11 |
Required items for ritual actions |
| | | G12 |
Musical instruments played during religious rituals |
| | | G13 |
Types of singing performance in religious rituals |
| | | G14 |
Types of dance performance in religious rituals |
| | | G15 |
Type of places for religious rituals |
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| H1 |
Type of ritual prescription for the mother, at birth |
| | | H2 |
Ritual prescription for the father, at birth |
| | | H3 |
Ritualized treatments of the new-born |
| | | H4 |
Ritualized treatment of the remains at birth (after-birth) |
| | | H5 |
Delivery place |
Home, also hospital | | | H6 |
Puberty initiation (male) |
Today circumcision, but this may be a relatively new development of the 19th (?) century | Circumcision
| | H7 |
Puberty initiation (female) |
Today excision, but this may be a relatively new development of the 20th century | | | H8 |
Ritual expressions of wedding |
| | | H9 |
Average age at marriage (male) |
| | | H10 |
Average age at marriage (female) |
| | | H11 |
Rites of passage between age classes |
Initiation, e.g. circumcision, excision | | | H12 |
Funeral body disposal |
In burial caves and cemeteries | | | H13 |
Funeral body position |
Extended | |
| I1 |
Regular body treatment |
| | | I2 |
Usual resting/sitting position |
squatting | | | I3 |
Delivery position |
| | | I4 |
Permanent bodily alterations |
formerly scarifications | | | I5 |
Homosexuality |
| | | I6 |
Pre-marital sexuality (male) |
| | | I7 |
Pre-marital sexuality (female) |
| |
| J1 |
Subsistence type |
Sedentary agriculturalists and horticulturalists | Economy
| | J2 |
Biogeographical landscape |
Semi-arid Bandiagara sandstone plateau, steep Bandiagara cliffs and sandy Seno-Gondo plain | The Dogon settlement area
| | J3 |
Rough population density (persons/km2) |
Diverse in plateau, plain and escarpment | Demography
| | J4 |
Dwelling type |
Rectangular mudbrick or stone/mud-covered buildings | | | J5 |
Staple food |
Millet | | | J6 |
Gender specialisation of tasks |
Yes, e.g. women act as potters and spin cotton, men act as weavers | | | J7 |
Monetary or other exchange system/material |
CFA | | | J8 |
Mutually exclusive exhange spheres |
| | | J9 |
Means of transportation |
By foot; roads are currently built to open up the area | | | J10 |
Emblematic cultural item for general market |
Wooden sculpture, e.g. statuettes and masks | | | J11 |
Vital imports |
Salt, millet, industrial goods, medecines | | | J12 |
Specialisation in interethnic relations |
onions | | | J13 |
Principal types of musical instruments |
Drums, bells, flutes, luthes, rattles | | | J14 |
Main type of dance performance |
Mask dances at the occasion of funerary festivals, such as the nyou yama, dama, or the sigui | | | J15 |
Cultural representations for general public |
Adapted mask dances, which comprise the spectacular masks and dance steps of the traditional mask dances | |
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