Rain altar, Sanga region, Mali

"A great Dogon ritual of renewal, the buro, takes place each year after the harvest. At rainmaking altars sacrifices are made to Ama, the sky god, who controls the falling of the rain." [Hollyman S. and Van Beek W., 2001: Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs. Harry N Abrams, Inc.]. During his trip to Mali, Elisofon visited the Dogon people in Sanga (Sangha), a group of thirteen villages lying east of Bandiagara at the top of an escarpment. The most important villages are Ogol-du-Haut and Ogol-du-Bas. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignement for National Geographic Film and traveled to Africa from January 19, 1972 to mid April 1972.