That dog gone Dogon Myth

The Dogon are an ethnic group located mainly in the administrative
districts of Bandiagara and Douentza in Mali, West Africa. The precise origin of the Dogon, like those of many other ancient cultures, is undetermined. Their civilization emerged, in much the same manner as ancient Sumer, both sharing tales of their creation by gods who came from the sky in space ships, who allegedly will return one day.

The early histories are informed by oral traditions that differ according to the Dogon clan being consulted and archaeological excavation much more of which needs to be conducted.

Because of these inexact and incomplete sources, there are a number of different versions of the Dogon's origin myths as well as differing accounts of how they got from their ancestral homelands to the Bandiagara region. The people call themselves 'Dogon' or 'Dogom', but in the older literature they are most often called 'Habe', a Fulbe word meaning 'stranger' or 'pagan'. Certain theories suggest the tribe to be of ancient Egyptian descent - the Dogon next migrating to the region now called Libya, then moving on to somewhere in the regions of Guinea or Mauritania. Around 1490 AD, fleeing invaders and/or drought, they migrated to the Bandiagara cliffs of central Mali. Carbon-14 dating techniques used on excavated remains found in the cliffs indicate that there were inhabitants in the region before the arrival of the Dogon. They were the Toloy culture of the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC, and the Tellem culture of the 11th to 15th centuries AD.

The religious beliefs of the Dogon are enormously complex and knowledge of them varies greatly within Dogon society. Dogon religion is defined primarily through the worship of the ancestors and the spirits whom they encountered as they slowly migrated from their obscure ancestral homelands to the Bandiagara cliffs. They were called the 'Nommo' - [see below and on the file Amphibious Gods.]

There are three principal cults among the Dogon; the Awa, Lebe and Binu.

The Awa is a cult of the dead, whose purpose is to reorder the spiritual forces disturbed by the death of Nommo, a mythological ancestor of great importance to the Dogon.

Members of the Awa cult dance with ornate carved and painted masks during both funeral and death anniversary ceremonies. There are 78 different types of ritual masks among the Dogon and their iconographic messages go beyond the aesthetic, into the realm of religion and philosophy.

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[izelatlan0478]

Of all the curious things have been going on expositions this is about the best one; It doesn't require me to believe in Atlantis or Lemuria or Mu or things that can't be reconciled with plate tectonics; It points to a bunch of very curious things. It would interesting if this could cause a paradigm shift.

[BigFatSquareWave]

came to search youtube on this subject after listening to a description of their culture's beliefs on Out There Radio. I assume it's implied that their discovery of Sirius B dates back centuries before we could have discovered it via Xray, as it is not visible through telescopes to the human eye? Great video, makes me want to do more research now though =D

What is the name of the song you used at the start of the video by the way? Sounds great!

[SpudXXXX]

A five day week is strange but a five day wekend would be awesome ;-)

[SpudXXXX]

The vid loaded fully but twice during play it froze at exactly 2:06 I'll try again later - thanks.