Figure - woman

The Dogon people are primarily farmers. The calendar of field works and the success of the harvest depend on the timely start of the rainy season. It is critical, as there is not a single permanent river or stream in the Dogon country, only periodic ones, existing only during the rainy season. The stream called Yamé runs through Bandiagara for the longest time, and the largest waterfall, which is also a huge tourist attraction, is located near the village of Banani and exists only from July to September. The Dogon know and use many ways to bring rain. One of them is to make sacrifices on special altars called andugo erected only for this one purpose. Through these altars, offerings are made to the Nommo deities, who are considered the rulers of water living in every body of water on earth, including rain falling from the sky. These altars may be located on the terraces of ginna houses, in the courtyards of homesteads, on the outskirts of villages or in separate shrines. They can also be mobile, easily moved to the fields, especially when the first rains have already occurred. The altars consist of a pile of stones called andugua dibu, which literally means stone that has fallen from the sky. Wooden figures and metal objects are placed on them. The figure represents an ancestor with his hands raised in the air. This gesture is interpreted as a prayerful effort to unite earth and sky. The sign of this alliance is the rain, so important for farmers. It is believed that originally the Tellem, mysterious people who inhabited the Bandiagara Escarpment before the arrival of the Dogon, carved their ancestors in this way. This motif became part of the Dogon tradition and today the connection with the Tellem is only evidenced by the name tellem used to describe the figures.

Ewa Prądzyńska