essay

Becoming human in Dogon, Mali

Coming into existence : birth and metaphors of birth, edited with an introduction by Göran Aijmer • Goteborg, Sweden • Published In 1992 • Pages: 47-70, 154-159

By: Beek, W. E. A. van.

Abstract
In this article van Beek discusses women's fertility and Dogon ideas and practices surrounding menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and naming. He then discusses the SIGUI ceremony which happens once every sixty years. The sigui ceremony is a ritual of renewel and initiation in which only men participate. Men are reborn from the bush with a new personhood (INé) and minds (HAKILé), and with enhanced powers and fertility. According to van Beek, the sigui ceremony inverts the rituals associated with pregnancy and childbirth and endow men and the patrilineage with creative powers. The ceremony stresses ‘the fleeting male creation by man of himself against the continuing chain of life generated by the women' (p. 70).
Subjects
Age stratification
Gender status
Mythology
Organized ceremonial
Ideas about nature and people
Reproduction
Puberty and initiation
culture
Dogon
HRAF PubDate
2000
Region
Africa
Sub Region
Western Africa
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Ethnographer-5
Analyst
Ian Skoggard ;1999
Coverage Date
1978-1989
Coverage Place
Bandiagara escarpment, Mali
Notes
Walter E. A. van Beek
Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-159)
LCSH
Dogons (African people)