Mask of quack

The mask of a witch doctor is called dyodyonune or dyonune in the language of the Dogon. It represents a healer, a specialist whom the Dogon consult in case of illness. The myth about the origin of this mask tells the story of a healer who, while hunting in the bush at night, killed by mistake another hunter, a resident of a neighbouring village. To protect himself from nyama of his victim, the medicine man sacrificed a goat. The sacrifice had the desired effect. However, after his death, a boy fell ill and inherited the healer's nanie (a kind of soul). His parents, after consulting diviners, found out that the cause of the illness was the hunter's nyama, which was taking revenge on the nanie of his murderer. To help the boy, an altar was built and a statue was placed on it, which became the seat of the hunter's life energy. According to Germaine Dieterlen, a French expert on Dogon culture, the mask of the witch doctor refers to Dyungo Seru, one of the original ancestors who was the first Dogon to experience death. Dyungo Seru was an expert in healing and had knowledge of medicinal products and plants. He tried to cure an injured walu antelope that fell into a trap set by Yurugu who wanted revenge for obstructing access to his twin sister.The dancer in the dyonune mask holds in one hand a wooden vessel symbolising a clay pot in which healers macerate plants and other healing ingredients, and in the other he wields a stallion. He walks among the other masks, dipping the pot with a gesture of his hand into the pot and then spraying the masked dancers and the audience with its contents. If during the dance one of the wooden masks breaks or fibres fall to the ground, all these elements are collected by non-dancing members of the Awa association. Then such a place is also sprayed by dyonune to be cleaned.

Ewa Prądzyńska