Figure -Dyon carrying Arou

The figurine depicts two figures standing one on top of the other. The representation refers to the myth about the migration from the Mande country, i.e. the ancestral homeland of the Dogon. According to oral tradition, the country lies in the area of the Kouroula Mountains between Sibi and Nyagassola (the territory of present-day Guinea). It is believed that the Dogon left their old homeland, retreating from the onslaught of Islam, which thrived in this area around the 10th-13th centuries. They migrated in several waves between the 12th and 15th centuries and settled different areas of the Bandiagara Escarpment at different times. According to one myth, the Dogon of today are the descendants of four mythical brothers - Arou, Dyon, Ono and Domno, who migrated from Mande country to Dogon country. Arou (in some versions of the myth is depicted as Dyon's son) was the youngest of the brothers, and the older Dyon carried him on his shoulders. Having a better view from the mountain, Arou was the first to spot his new homeland. He took advantage of this fact and shouted out his right to the best part of it. By this act, he violated the principle of the seniority of brothers, according to which the greatest privileges always belong to the oldest brother. The angry brothers left Arou on the road and went on alone. Arou met an older woman on the way, from whom he received extraordinary supernatural gifts: the power to domesticate animals, ward off enemy attacks, cause rain and make practical sacrifices.The consequence of the events described in the myth is the division of the Dogon into four large groups, which can still be seen today, originating from the four ancestors, the protagonists of the myth of the four brothers. The descendants of Arou settled on the debris at the foot of the Bandiagara Escarpment, the descendants of Dyon on the Plateau, and Ono and Domno on the Plain.

Ewa Prądzyńska