A Ginna, the ancestral adobe of a Dogon lineage, Ogol du Haut village, Mali

"In the village's wards, each clan and lineage has a central house, usually a very old structure, called gina [ginna (gin'na)], like the word for clan. On the cliffside they are usually simple; on the plateau they are decorated with rows of small holes. Inside this building, some altars and a small shrine form the focus of the clan cult. In most Dogon villages, the head of a clan lives in the gina until his death." [Hollyman S. and Van Beek W., 2001: Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs. Harry N Abrams, Inc.]. The photograph depicts Dolo, the blacksmith and wood carver of Ogol du Haut village, in front of the central house of his clan and lineage. During his trip to Mali, Elisofon visited the Dogon people in the Sanga region. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon traveled to Africa from March 17, 1970 to July 17, 1970.