Resource: The Dogon and the Dama
Media Type:
QuickTime Video
Length: 8m 07s
Size: 22.5 MB
The Dama is the rite of passage for the men of the Dogon tribe. Conditions must be just right before a Dama can take place, and in the village of Tireli, in Mali, it is the responsibility of the oldest man in the village, the revered "Keeper of the Masks," to determine the timing of the Dama. In this video segment from the series Africa, young men in Tireli feel suspended between boyhood and manhood because there has not been a Dama in the village in 20 years. There is a conflict. A spirit told the village fortune teller that the next Dama would herald the village elder's death, and so the old man believes that if he organizes a Dama he will die.
Teachers' Domain, The Dogon and the Dama, published October 9, 2008, retrieved on ,
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/vtl07.la.ws.process.dogondama/
- Frame and Focus
- Follow Up
- Connections
- Standards
Print Frame and FocusThe following suggestions are best suited for middle school students using this video in an English language arts or social studies lesson. Be sure to modify the questions to meet your students' instructional needs.
Frame (ELA) Do you ramble or include information that is not relevant when telling a story or a joke? Do you know someone who does this? Sometimes you can’t figure out the story because there are too many details that are irrelevant, while information that is important to know is left out. Describe an experience you've had that is similar.
Focus (ELA) There are many details and ideas presented in the story of the Dama and the Dogon. Listen carefully and determine what information is irrelevant. Also, make a note of what information you still don’t understand. What questions does the story leave you with?
Frame (SS) Sometimes books or movies are labeled as rite of passage stories. What is a rite of passage? What books or movies do you know that are about a character completing some task or ritual to show the character has grown up?
Focus (SS) In the video, determine what the Dogon’s rite of passage is and why it is so important to them.
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Source: Africa: "Love in the Sahel"
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Funding for the VITAL/Ready to Teach collection was secured through the United States Department of Education under the Ready to Teach Program.