7. TRADITIONAL FAMILY
CEREMONIES
• Birth, marriage and burial are considered
the three most important family events
• traditional marriage (Igbankwu)
• bride’s price settlement (Ika-
Akalika)
9. OGBANJE
• An ogbanje is a reincarnating evil
spirit that would deliberately
plague a family with misfortune.
• Iyi-uwa, which they have dug
somewhere secret, would ensure
the ogbanje would never plague
the family with misfortune again
10. DIBIA
Dibia are mediators
between the human
world and the spirit
world and act as
healers, scribes,
teachers, diviners and
advisors of people in
the community.
11. Masquerades and Festivals
• Masquerades (Mmanwu)
• colourful robes and masks made of wood
or fabric.
• The identity of the masquerade is a well-
kept secret.
12. CREATION MYTH
For a long time things worked
very well in heaven, all of the
Gods and Goddesses lived in
one place.
individualistic, and therefore
very independent
Jealousy and greedy
WHO HAD
MORE
AUTHORITY?
Chineke came up
with a master
plan
Heaven was
divided into
equal parts.
HOLY
HOMESTEAD
God IGWE and the
Goddess ALA, whose
domain consisted of
the earth and sky
ALA and IGWE
created 8 peopleSticks from Ofo
Tree, Chalk, Clay
• Sex-act and birth: (nine months)
• Babyhood: (Birth to about three years of age)
• Childhood: (Three years to twelve)
• Adulthood: (developed between the ages of
thirteen and twenty)
• Parenthood: (twenty to forty year age group)
• Grandparenthood: (Forty to sixty years)
• Great grandparenthood and Ancestor- hood:
(Sixty years to forever after death).
17. • spiritual elders and custodians of
indigenous knowledge who have the
power and knowledge to organize
their thoughts into one cohesive unit.
• Rog is inaccessible except by Saltigue.
SALTIGUE
18. • Traditional followers of Serer faith are
governed by a code of honor called Gorie.
• Serer people hold each other accountable
for immoral actions and justice for
breaking societal rules is adverse.
•Adultery
•murder
21. DOGON
• The Dogons are an ethnic group
living in the central plateau region of
the country of Mali.
• best known for their religious
traditions, their mask dances,
wooden sculpture and their
architecture.
22. • Highest in the order of
supernatural being is Amma
• The Dogon also believe in various
malevolent and benevolent spirits who
populate the trees, and uninhabited
places.
• Nommo
• Lebe
• Yurugu
23. • A major part of Dogon religious
worship is the cult of the masks,
called Awa
• The olubaru are initiated in
a Sigi ceremony, which is celebrated
only once every sixty years
• during the preparation for a dama
festival,
SIGUI AND DAMAS
FESTIVAL
24.
25. • The Hogon is the spiritual leader of the
village.
• A virgin who has not yet had
her period takes care of him, cleans the
house and prepares his meals.
HOGON
26. • primarily sculpture.
• around religious values, ideals, and
freedoms
• not made to be seen publicly, and are
commonly hidden from the public eye
within the houses of
families, sanctuaries, or kept with the
Hogon
DOGON ART
"Mbocor" (which means : "The Mother") - mother of all animals except the jackal. In each of these phases, and before the creation of the first human couple, the supreme deity did not directly create each species, but only the primogenitors who then went on to populate the world with all the species of plant and animal life.
jackal is believed to be the first animal onEarth, and in accordance with the prevailing Serer view
fallenprophet for disobeying the laws of the divine.
Sigui is the most important ceremony of the Dogon. It takes place every 60 years and can take several years. The last one started in 1967 and ended in 1973; the next one will start in 2027. The Sigui ceremony symbolises the death of the first ancestor (not to be confused with Lébé) until the moment that humanity acquired the use of the spoken word. The Sigui is a long procession that starts and ends in the village of Youga Dogorou and goes from one village to another during several months or years. All men wear masks and dance in long processions. The Sigui has a secret language, Sigui So, that women are not allowed to learn. The secret Society of Sigui plays a central role in the ceremony. They prepare the ceremonies a long time in advance, and they live for three months hidden outside of the villages while nobody is allowed to see them. The men from the Society of Sigui are called the Olubaru. The villagers are afraid of them, and fear is cultivated by a prohibition to go out at night, when sounds warn that the Olubaru are out. The most important mask that plays a major role in the Sigui rituals is the Great Mask or the Mother of Masks. It is several meters long, held by hand, and not used to hide a face. This mask is newly created every 60 years.
Due to the expense, their traditional funeral rituals or "damas" are becoming very rare. They may be performed years after the death. Damas that are still performed today are not usually performed for their original intent, but instead are done as a source of entertainment for tourists interested in the Dogon way of life. The Dogon use this entertainment to gain profit by charging the tourists money for what masks they want to see and the ritual itself (Davis, 68).
The traditional dama consists of a masquerade that essentially leads the souls of the departed to their final resting places through a series of ritual dances and rites. Dogon damas include the use of many masks which they wore by securing them in their teeth, and statuettes. Each Dogon village may differ in the designs of the masks used in the dama ritual. Every village may have their own way of performing the dama rituals
The Hogon is the spiritual leader of the village. He is elected from among the oldest men of the enlarged families of the village.
After his election, he has to follow a six-month initiation period, during which he is not allowed to shave or wash. He wears white clothes and nobody is allowed to touch him. A virgin who has not yet had her period takes care of him, cleans the house and prepares his meals. She returns to her home at night.
A mud mosque and minaret.
After his initiation, he wears a red fez. He has an armband with a sacred pearl that symbolises his function. The virgin is replaced by one of his wives, and she also returns to her home at night. The Hogon has to live alone in his house. The Dogon believe the sacred snake Lébé comes during the night to clean him and to transfer wisdom.