The Tellem are thought to have occupied the region of the Bandiagara escarpment until the sixteenth century. The human form with raised arms is a common pose fo
Text · Dogon (Mali) · Held in several collections

Nommo (amphibious ancestral spirits)

Griaule said the Dogon knew of a tiny star circling Sirius every 50 years. The puzzle is who told whom.

oral; Griaule & Dieterlen 1930s-60s

Van Beek found the Dogon said they learned about the star from Griaule. How much can a researcher shape the beliefs he records?

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Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

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