Well I suggest you skip the anthropology board and go read H.P. Lovecraft and the various authors that write fiction based on his works, since you’re talking a fictional belief.
The Dogon are an ethnic group located mainly in the administrative
districts of Bandiagara and Douentza in Mali, West Africa. Their territory
extends from approximately lat. 13 1/2 degrees-15 degrees N by long.
1 1/2-4 degrees W. This area is composed of three quite distinct topographical
regions: the plain, the cliffs, and the plateau. Within these regions
the Dogon population of about 250,000 (ca. 1965) is most heavily concentrated
along a 90-mile stretch of escarpment called the Cliffs of Bandiagara.
This provides a rather spectacular physical setting for villages built
up on the sides of the escarpment.
The Dogon language has been classified within the Voltaic (or Gur)
subfamily of the Niger-Congo language family (Greenberg 1966: 8, 162,
165). The people call themselves Dogon or Dogom (sing., Dogo), but
in the older literature they are most often called Habe (sing., Kado),
a Fulbe word meaning "stranger" or "pagan."
The Dogon are primarily agriculturalists, their principal crops being
millet, sorghum, rice, onions, beans, tobacco, and sorrel. They are
also arboriculturalists. The Dogon keep herds of goats and sheep along
with some cows and poultry. Hunting contributes little to the diet
since game in the area is scarce. Fishing is done once a year as a
collective venture.
According to their traditional history, ancestors of the Dogon migrated
to the area which they now inhabit some time around the tenth century.
These ancestors were four brothers, Dyon, Ono, Arou, and Domno. Inhabitants
of different regions claim kinship with one of these four brothers.
The Dogon have a system of social stratification similar to numerous
other societies of the West African Sudan. The distinctive feature
is a hierarchical series of occupational "castes" or status groups
consisting of workers in iron, wood, and leather, as well as the griots.
The griots function as lineage genealogists, musicians, and poets
and are evidently believed to be sorcerers as well. Caste members
live apart from the agriculturalists in either a special quarter reserved
for them, or outside of the village, or in villages of their own.
Each caste is endogamous and the members do not participate in the
common religious cults.
Dogon villages, usually in groups of about 5 or 6, are concentrated
around water holes and referred to as "cantons" or regions. Village
organization is kin-based within the overall framework of exogamous
patrilineal lineages (gina). The fundamental unit of Dogon social
organization is the localized patrilineage or lineage segment.
The basic residential unit is the conjugal family household (gina),
usually composed of a polygynous family group (i.e., a man, his wives,
and their unmarried children). It is not clear from the data whether
or not these household groups are organized into extended patrilocal
families. Paulme (1940: 246) simply says that marital residence is
patrilocal in the village of the man’s father, often within the same
village quarter. According to Palau Marti (1957: 58), the larger gina
(i.e., lineages) are divided into several tire togu, but it is ambiguous
as to whether or not these are sublineages or extended patrilocal
families.
In any event, there is some clustering within villages of patrilineally-related
households. The senior male of the local lineage group, who is called
the gina bana, occupies a larger-than-ordinary house (also called
gina), and houses of other lineage members are associated with his
household. Several family compounds make up a quarter or togu. All
villages have at least one togu na, a shelter where the men gather,
and a Lebe shrine.
The localized patrilineage (gina) owns houses and agricultural fields,
has its own altars and ceremonialism, and its own burial place. The
lineage head, gina bana, is the oldest living male descendant of the
common ancestor of the lineage. The primary responsibility of the
gina bana is to conduct ceremonies. In addition, he presides over
a council of elders made up of all the adult men of the group. The
council and the gina bana settle family disputes, administer the property,
and send representatives to the village council.
The region is an agglomeration of several villages which, according
to Paulme (1940: 25), share "a unity of a triple order, at once geographic,
linguistic, and ethnic." The geographic unity stems from the grouping
of the villages around water holes. Each region has its own distinct
dialect, some of which are considerably different from each other.
Ethnic unity derives from the fact that all members of the region
claim kinship with a common ancestor, who was responsible for founding
the first village in the region.
The oldest direct descendant of the founder is called the hogon. The
hogon is the chief of the region and, along with a council of elders
made up of the gina bana, rules over the affairs of the region. The
regulatory functions of this group include policing, the levying of
taxes, and the administration of justice. The hogon also has important
priestly functions.
There are age brotherhoods known as tumo among the Dogon. Initiations
into the brotherhoods are conducted every three to four years. The
most distinctive function of the tumo is the performance of the batono
rite. This rite takes place during the sowing festival and the same-age
brotherhood performs it 9 or 12 years in succession. Paulme states
that although the importance of the age brotherhoods was decreasing,
age as a status factor had always been and continued to be very important.
The men’s society among the Dogon controls the cult of the masks (Awa).
The men’s society is characterized by a strict etiquette, obligations,
interdicts, and a secret language. All young men are instructed in
the cult of the masks. Women and children are strictly excluded. In
addition, selected young men, the olubaru, are given additional instruction.
They are the ones who will have the life-time duty of preserving the
traditions of the masks. The olubaru are initiated in a Sigi ceremony,
which is celebrated once every 60 years. The masks perform every year
during the 4 weeks which precede the sowing festival, at the Sigi
ceremony, and during the preparation for a dama festival (the ceremony
for lifting the mourning period).
Besides the cult of the masks, there are three other principal cults
among the Dogon. In the public plaza of every village there is an
altar of Lebe. The Lebe cult is associated with the agricultural cycle
and its chief priest is the hogon. The cult of Binu is often referred
to as totemic. We observe it in the essential characteristics of this
institution: existence of exogamous totemic clans, the members of
the clan having the same name and respecting the same animal (or vegetable)
prohibition. …The prohibitions are transmitted in the paternal line
and are in keeping with exogamy [Paulme 1940: 109].
The cult of Binu is also associated with the agricultural cycle, and
sacrifices are offered at cult altars during the agricultural season.
The cult of the ancestors is associated with gina. The purpose of
the rituals is to establish and maintain good relations between the
dead and the living. The gina bana is in charge of the ancestor cult.
The story of the Dogon and their legend was first brought to popular attention by Robert K.G. Temple in a book published in 1977 called The Sirius Mystery. Science writer Ian Ridpath and astronomer Carl Sagan made a reply to Temple’s book, suggesting that this modern knowledge about Sirius must have come from Westerners who discussed astronomy with the Dogon priests. The priests then included this new information into the older traditions. This, in turn, mislead the anthropologists.
This is a possibility considering Sirius B’s existence was suspected as early as 1844 and seen was through a telescope in 1862. It doesn’t seem to explain a 400-year old Dogon artifact that apparently depicts the Sirius configuration nor the ceremonies held by the Dogon since the 13th century to celebrate the cycle of Sirius A and B. It also doesn’t explain how the Dogons knew about the super-density of Sirius B, a fact only discovered a few years before the anthropologists recorded the Dogon stories.
I did a web search for you, and I found a couple interesting sites:
http://www.unmuseum.org/siriusb.htm talks about the myth. It’s pretty interesting and straight forward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogon Wikipedia has some good basic information on the Dogon people
Well I suggest you skip the anthropology board and go read H.P. Lovecraft and the various authors that write fiction based on his works, since you’re talking a fictional belief.
The Dogon are an ethnic group located mainly in the administrative
districts of Bandiagara and Douentza in Mali, West Africa. Their territory
extends from approximately lat. 13 1/2 degrees-15 degrees N by long.
1 1/2-4 degrees W. This area is composed of three quite distinct topographical
regions: the plain, the cliffs, and the plateau. Within these regions
the Dogon population of about 250,000 (ca. 1965) is most heavily concentrated
along a 90-mile stretch of escarpment called the Cliffs of Bandiagara.
This provides a rather spectacular physical setting for villages built
up on the sides of the escarpment.
The Dogon language has been classified within the Voltaic (or Gur)
subfamily of the Niger-Congo language family (Greenberg 1966: 8, 162,
165). The people call themselves Dogon or Dogom (sing., Dogo), but
in the older literature they are most often called Habe (sing., Kado),
a Fulbe word meaning "stranger" or "pagan."
The Dogon are primarily agriculturalists, their principal crops being
millet, sorghum, rice, onions, beans, tobacco, and sorrel. They are
also arboriculturalists. The Dogon keep herds of goats and sheep along
with some cows and poultry. Hunting contributes little to the diet
since game in the area is scarce. Fishing is done once a year as a
collective venture.
According to their traditional history, ancestors of the Dogon migrated
to the area which they now inhabit some time around the tenth century.
These ancestors were four brothers, Dyon, Ono, Arou, and Domno. Inhabitants
of different regions claim kinship with one of these four brothers.
The Dogon have a system of social stratification similar to numerous
other societies of the West African Sudan. The distinctive feature
is a hierarchical series of occupational "castes" or status groups
consisting of workers in iron, wood, and leather, as well as the griots.
The griots function as lineage genealogists, musicians, and poets
and are evidently believed to be sorcerers as well. Caste members
live apart from the agriculturalists in either a special quarter reserved
for them, or outside of the village, or in villages of their own.
Each caste is endogamous and the members do not participate in the
common religious cults.
Dogon villages, usually in groups of about 5 or 6, are concentrated
around water holes and referred to as "cantons" or regions. Village
organization is kin-based within the overall framework of exogamous
patrilineal lineages (gina). The fundamental unit of Dogon social
organization is the localized patrilineage or lineage segment.
The basic residential unit is the conjugal family household (gina),
usually composed of a polygynous family group (i.e., a man, his wives,
and their unmarried children). It is not clear from the data whether
or not these household groups are organized into extended patrilocal
families. Paulme (1940: 246) simply says that marital residence is
patrilocal in the village of the man’s father, often within the same
village quarter. According to Palau Marti (1957: 58), the larger gina
(i.e., lineages) are divided into several tire togu, but it is ambiguous
as to whether or not these are sublineages or extended patrilocal
families.
In any event, there is some clustering within villages of patrilineally-related
households. The senior male of the local lineage group, who is called
the gina bana, occupies a larger-than-ordinary house (also called
gina), and houses of other lineage members are associated with his
household. Several family compounds make up a quarter or togu. All
villages have at least one togu na, a shelter where the men gather,
and a Lebe shrine.
The localized patrilineage (gina) owns houses and agricultural fields,
has its own altars and ceremonialism, and its own burial place. The
lineage head, gina bana, is the oldest living male descendant of the
common ancestor of the lineage. The primary responsibility of the
gina bana is to conduct ceremonies. In addition, he presides over
a council of elders made up of all the adult men of the group. The
council and the gina bana settle family disputes, administer the property,
and send representatives to the village council.
The region is an agglomeration of several villages which, according
to Paulme (1940: 25), share "a unity of a triple order, at once geographic,
linguistic, and ethnic." The geographic unity stems from the grouping
of the villages around water holes. Each region has its own distinct
dialect, some of which are considerably different from each other.
Ethnic unity derives from the fact that all members of the region
claim kinship with a common ancestor, who was responsible for founding
the first village in the region.
The oldest direct descendant of the founder is called the hogon. The
hogon is the chief of the region and, along with a council of elders
made up of the gina bana, rules over the affairs of the region. The
regulatory functions of this group include policing, the levying of
taxes, and the administration of justice. The hogon also has important
priestly functions.
There are age brotherhoods known as tumo among the Dogon. Initiations
into the brotherhoods are conducted every three to four years. The
most distinctive function of the tumo is the performance of the batono
rite. This rite takes place during the sowing festival and the same-age
brotherhood performs it 9 or 12 years in succession. Paulme states
that although the importance of the age brotherhoods was decreasing,
age as a status factor had always been and continued to be very important.
The men’s society among the Dogon controls the cult of the masks (Awa).
The men’s society is characterized by a strict etiquette, obligations,
interdicts, and a secret language. All young men are instructed in
the cult of the masks. Women and children are strictly excluded. In
addition, selected young men, the olubaru, are given additional instruction.
They are the ones who will have the life-time duty of preserving the
traditions of the masks. The olubaru are initiated in a Sigi ceremony,
which is celebrated once every 60 years. The masks perform every year
during the 4 weeks which precede the sowing festival, at the Sigi
ceremony, and during the preparation for a dama festival (the ceremony
for lifting the mourning period).
Besides the cult of the masks, there are three other principal cults
among the Dogon. In the public plaza of every village there is an
altar of Lebe. The Lebe cult is associated with the agricultural cycle
and its chief priest is the hogon. The cult of Binu is often referred
to as totemic. We observe it in the essential characteristics of this
institution: existence of exogamous totemic clans, the members of
the clan having the same name and respecting the same animal (or vegetable)
prohibition. …The prohibitions are transmitted in the paternal line
and are in keeping with exogamy [Paulme 1940: 109].
The cult of Binu is also associated with the agricultural cycle, and
sacrifices are offered at cult altars during the agricultural season.
The cult of the ancestors is associated with gina. The purpose of
the rituals is to establish and maintain good relations between the
dead and the living. The gina bana is in charge of the ancestor cult.
The story of the Dogon and their legend was first brought to popular attention by Robert K.G. Temple in a book published in 1977 called The Sirius Mystery. Science writer Ian Ridpath and astronomer Carl Sagan made a reply to Temple’s book, suggesting that this modern knowledge about Sirius must have come from Westerners who discussed astronomy with the Dogon priests. The priests then included this new information into the older traditions. This, in turn, mislead the anthropologists.
This is a possibility considering Sirius B’s existence was suspected as early as 1844 and seen was through a telescope in 1862. It doesn’t seem to explain a 400-year old Dogon artifact that apparently depicts the Sirius configuration nor the ceremonies held by the Dogon since the 13th century to celebrate the cycle of Sirius A and B. It also doesn’t explain how the Dogons knew about the super-density of Sirius B, a fact only discovered a few years before the anthropologists recorded the Dogon stories.