Dogon mythology

The Dogon tribe live in West Africa.

Sirius

There are contradictory reports regarding Dogon mythology about the star Sirius (Canis Majoris α).

The French anthropologist Marcel Griaule, who had previously published numerous well-regarded studies on the Dogon and their customs, published a book called Le renard pâle (The Pale Fox) about what purported to be their ancient history. He said that this was secret knowledge held only by initiates, and was revealed to him by two elders of the tribe only after he had been living among and studying the Dogon for years (this is plausible in itself, since 'secret societies' that have secret information that is told only to initiates are very common in West Africa).

Among other things, it mentioned that Sirius had two companions, known as po tolo, the 'heavy star', matching the description of Sirius B, and emme ya tolo, matching the description of Sirius C, whose existence was only hypothetical at the time and still is. This was surprising because, while many primitive peoples make detailed astronomical observations, Sirius B is visible only through a powerful telescope, and the account in Le renard pâle implied that the Dogon had known about it for a very long time.

This account was publicised by a book by Robert Temple called The Sirius Mystery.

Another anthropologist said that none of the Dogon he had asked had ever heard of such a legend. He claimed that in Dogon culture it is considered impolite to tell somebody to their face that what they are saying is wrong, and suggested that, since Griaule was notorious for asking leading questions, his informants might simply have been agreeing with his speculations out of politeness.

Some other people have suggested that the Dogon might have heard the information more recently from visiting foreigners. However, attempts to find any evidence of this having happened have been unsuccessful.

In the 1980s, a Dogon man called Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig came forward claiming that he was a hereditary initiate in this knowledge and that it came from Ancient Egypt, and started an organisation teaching it, along with other African mythology or alleged African mythology.