The Dogon people of west Africa recorded their history in wood carvings. Many of these carvings are done on doors (and in smaller version, on window shutters). Such doors have become favored artifacts and are sought worldwide by collectors.
The door in this photo is a common motif dealing with Dogon Cosmology and the Dogon migration that took place during the 12th to 15th centuries from ancestral lands to their current location on the Bandiagara Escarpment. The story is as follows:
First row: On the left and right sides is the Hogon, or spiritual leader of the village, with his relatives. In the middle are young men wearing antelope and Kananga masks. Kananga masks represent man's spirit with two arms pointing up to the sky and two arms pointing down to the earth. Antelopes are included as they are the ones who told the Dogon how to farm.
The second row represents the river. In the center is the water spirit, Nomo, the first living being created by Amma, the creator of the universe. To Nomo's left are turtles, representing long life, and on the right are ducks to represent the Niger River, which the Dogon had to cross in their migration. A crocodile, still revered and protected in some Dogon villages, is just below the ducks.
Third row: Nomo, the water god, multiplied to become the eight ancestors of the Dogon, which form the foundation of the Dogon people. The two carvings in the center are cows, representing the livestock that accompanied the Dogon in their migration.
Bottom row: On the left, is the Diviner and the fox (more on this later). In the center is a pregnant woman asking a fetish priest to make animal sacrifices to bring her good fortune. To his right, is her husband carrying chickens as an offering to the priest and to his right is the grandfather bringing a goat to thank the priest. The circle on the right is a snake, which represents the earth. The snake is holding on to its tail (and hence is a circle) and should the snake decide to let go, the world would come to an end.
Along the door's frame are more carvings of snakes (representing the earth), turtles (long life) and lizards (luck).
Koundou Guina, Mali
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