Funeral rites among the Dogon people. Sanga, Mali

Object Details

Local Numbers: EENG-XII-4, 11.
General: Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note: Typed index card reads, "G 1 Dgn. Dogon. Mali, Sanga. Men shooting off blank charges to drive away spirits on the day after a man's death. 10/1959. EE. neg.no. XII-4, 11." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.

See more items in: Eliot Elisofon Field collection; Eliot Elisofon Field collection / Mali

Archival Repository: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Type: Archival materials; Negatives (photographic); Black-and-white negatives; Negatives

Collection Citation: Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

Collection Rights: Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Scope and Contents: "The Dogon believe that after death, the spirit of the deceased is not immediately transformed into an ancestor. It is when in this state that a person's spirit can be most malevolent and dangerous. Funerals, bago bundo, which are held several weeks, and sometimes months, after burial, are public rites at which agnatic and affinal kin venerate the life and actions of the deceased." [Lane P., 1988: Settlement as History: A Study of Space and Time among the Dogon of Mali. University of Cambridge.] The photograph depicts men firing blank charges during mock battles intended to guide the spirit of the deceased onto the path to the afterlife. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.

Collection Restrictions: Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.