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Dogon People
The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger River, Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000. They speak the Dogon languages, which are considered to constitute an independent branch of the Niger–Congo language family, meaning that they are not closely related to any other languages. The Dogon are best known for Dogon religion, their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture, and their architecture. Since the twentieth century, there have been significant changes in the social organisation, material culture and beliefs of the Dogon, in part because Dogon country is one of Mali's major tourist attractions. Geography and history The principal Dogon area is bisected by the Bandiagara Escarpment, a sandstone cliff of up to high, stretching about 150 km (90 miles). To the southeast of the cliff, the sandy Séno-Gond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Traditional Religion
The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral tradition, oral rather than Religious text, scriptural and passed down from one generation to another through folk tales, songs, and festivals, include belief in an amount of higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme creator or force, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of Magic (supernatural), magic and traditional African medicine. Most religions can be described as Animism, animistic with various polytheistic and pantheistic aspects. The role of humanity is generally seen as one of harmonizing nature with the supernatural. Spread Adherents of traditional religions in Africa are distributed among 43 countries and are estimated to number over 100 million.''Britannica Book of the Year'' (2003), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2003) p.306 A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sangha, Mali
Sangha (sometimes spelled Sanga) is a rural commune in the Cercle of Bandigara in the Mopti Region of Mali. The commune contains around 44 small villages and in the 2009 census had a population of 32,513. The administrative centre (''chef-lieu'') is the village of Sangha Ogol Leye, one of a cluster of at least 10 small villages at the top of the Bandiagara Escarpment. The commune is known as a centre for Dogon traditional religion with many temples and shrines, and as a base for visitors to the local Dogon villages. Toro So is spoken in the village of Sangha. Most of the ethnographic work by Marcel Griaule was carried out among the Dogon of Sangha. Gallery ASC Leiden - W.E.A. van Beek Collection - Dogon markets 11 - Multi coloured clothing at the Sangha market, Mali 1992.jpg, Multicoloured clothing at Sangha market, 1992 ASC Leiden - W.E.A. van Beek Collection - Dogon markets 07 - Women with children and cassava roots at Sangha market, Mali 1992.jpg, Women with children an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa Today
''Africa Today'' is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal with articles about contemporary Africa. It was founded in 1954 and is published quarterly by the Indiana University Press. The editors accept submissions based on original research in any humanities and social science discipline. The journal publishes research articles, commentaries, and book reviews. Past special issues have focused on migration and social class, the future of African artistic practices, and family-based healthcare in Ghana. According to Project MUSE Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ..., it "publishes peer-reviewed, scholarly articles and book reviews in a broad range of academic disciplines on topics related to contemporary Africa" and "seek to be a venue for interdisciplinary app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germaine Dieterlen
Germaine Dieterlen (15 May 1903 in Paris – 13 November 1999 in Paris) was a French anthropologist. She was a student of Marcel Mauss, worked with noted French anthropologists Marcel Griaule (1898-1956) and Jean Rouch, wrote on a large range of ethnographic topics and made pioneering contributions to the study of myths, initiations, techniques (particularly " descriptive ethnography"), graphic systems, objects, classifications, ritual and social structure. She is most noted for her work among the Dogon and the Bambara of Mali, having lived with them for over twenty years, often in collaboration with Marcel Griaule, with whom she wrote the book The Pale Fox (1965). Themes Some of the main themes in her work concentrate on the notions of sacred kingship, the position of the first born, relationships between maternal uncles and nephews, division of labor, marriage, and the status of the rainmaker in Dogon society. Because each episode of the rite is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
