2007年VOA标准英语-Mali's Indigenous Dogon Tribe Struggles With 21

By Naomi Schwarz
Dogon Country
04 January 2007

In this arid¹ area near the eastern edge of Mali near the Burkina Faso border, the indigenous² Dogon people struggle to maintain their culture and traditional ways of life since the end of the colonial era. For VOA, Naomi Schwarz recently traveled to the villages along the rocky ridge³ the Dogon call home, to see how the modern invasion has impacted their traditional lifestyle.

 
An elder serves as spiritual leader for the village's animists
Halfway⁴ up a cliff in southern, central Mali, the sounds of a modern Dogon village float up from the brush-filled plain below. To reach the tiny, isolated⁵ villages of the Dogon, most foreign tourists must travel on foot.

But that has not seemed discourage people from making the trek⁶. Today, Dogon country is one of Mali's major tourist attractions. As a result, the past century has seen significant changes in the social organization and material culture of the Dogon.

Once an animist culture, the Dogon fled to this area more than 500 years ago to escape persecution⁷ by Muslim Fulani.  The geography offered protection from would-be invaders⁸. The Bandiagara Escarpment stretches 150 kilometers across brush-filled plains and forms a sort of wall between Dogon Country and the rest of Mali. The sheer face of the cliff looks like a bisected mountain; the multi-colored layers of sediment⁹ resemble a sunset built in stone.

Now that same picturesque¹⁰ geography and sense of a separate world is what brings thousands of tourists to Dogon villages every year.

"Herb Lebenton. Connecticut. United States. Been in Mali for eight days," said Herb Lebenton, one of those tourists. He explains what brought him to this corner of Mali.

"The culture of the Dogon. The architecture. The life of the village. I am interested in villages," he said.

Traditionally, the Dogon economy was based on agriculture and herding¹¹. Today nearly every village has lodgings¹³ for tourists. In a region with no electricity or running water, some of those lodgings provide air conditioning and hot showers.

But tourists have also left another legacy¹⁴.

Amadou Lougé, who runs a tourist lodging¹² in Kanikombolé, the village where he was born, has worked in the tourism industry for 12 years.

He says that before, the villages had few health centers or schools, but thanks to tourists who have donated money for development, this has changed.

 
Guide Ali Ban Guindo and a tourist Herb Lebenton visit the cliffside villages
And he says tourism has actually helped the Dogon people preserve their lifestyle.

Before, he says, young people were obligated to go to the cities to find paying work. Now people can work here in the tourism industry, he says, and stay beside their family.

Ali Ban Guindo is a Dogon guide who has led tourists through the region for 10 years. He says that life is changing here, but it is not only because of the tourists.

It is not just the tourists that change the life of people, Guindo says. He says that five percent is from tourists and 95 percent is the radio, the television, and the telephone.

And even before such technological¹⁵ changes, the Dogon were not immune to outside influence. Despite their initial resistance to Islam, many Dogon eventually converted from their animist beliefs. Now there are Animist, Islam, and Christian¹⁶ villages.

But Aminata Guindo, Amadou Lougé's wife, says that if things continue as they are, in 100 years the Dogon villages will disappear.

Dogon buildings are constructed out of a mud mixture that must be reapplied regularly or they break down in wind and rain. Even the centuries-old villages where Dogon no longer live have traditionally received this treatment every year.

Now, she says, people do not work like they used to, to maintain the old villages. And those are the true Dogon Country.

People are too busy with paying jobs to perform the maintenance, she says.

Tourist Herb Lebenton sees another downside to tourism.

Walking into villages, children swarm¹⁷ around him asking for the gifts they see other tourists give out: candy, pens, money.

Lebenton thinks it is a mistake to give such gifts to children.

"We are teaching the kids to beg, and that is not part of their culture," he said. "If you want to give, give in a responsible manner. Give to the teacher, or give to the village elder, let him distribute it."

 
A Dogon villager dresses in a traditional costume and mask
In one cliff-top Dogon village, tourists crowd around a natural amphitheater to enjoy a traditional mask dance.

The dance was once secret, and only men and orphaned¹⁸ women who were considered as men, were allowed to participate. Now a European woman marches as part of the procession, and anyone can watch.

These are changes, but not necessarily for the worse, says guide Ali Ban Guindo. He says that tourists come and go, but it is up to the Dogon people to decide how they will adapt or not in the 21st century.

1 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

6 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

7 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

8 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

9 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

10 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

11 herding   

中畜群

参考例句：

• The little boy is herding the cattle. 这个小男孩在放牛。
• They have been herding cattle on the tableland for generations. 他们世世代代在这高原上放牧。

12 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

13 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

14 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

15 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

16 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

18 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。