The Dogon tribe...

How did these people get advanced knowledge of astronomy before 3200 BCE, which was only discovered to be true in the 1970's? Could this be extraterrestrial influence, etc. because their legends tell that they were taught this by lifeforms from the Sirius star system. I have been researching this for years now, and I would like to do a research project or book about it. Here are some quick links to the Dogons:

www.dreamscape.com...

www.crystalinks.com...

ufos.about.com...

At first i thought it was absolute #e but i think this is not just a coincidence, perhaps its a result of time travel... i dont know why aliens would come to earth to tell the chosen Dogon people about a star light years away, a trial of time travel would seem more likely.

Im not saying that is not a possibility, but the Dogon also believe that the "aliens" that gave them this information were a type of "aquatic people" such as fish-like aliens. No one knows really, but then again, why would time travelers go back and tell them this information as well?

I was facinated with this at first and did a good bit of research myself.

The glaring facts are that most Dogons aren't even aware of the star at this point though some do have knowledge of it. The dogon tribe has no record of how old the story is and the knowledge might have come after the dicovery of the star.

If you ask a Dogon Tribesman about sirius B it is likely he will have no idea what you are talking about. If he does know, he will tell you it is a star you can no t see with your eye. Thats about it, no myth of gods, no ancient tale, nada.

The knowledge of Sirius B in the Dogon tribe can only be traced back to the late 1970s. No one in the tribe claims the knowledge is old let along ancient.

It seems that the story of the Dogon tribe has been blown so out of proportion and told so much via the internet that now it includes dates stated as fact, ancient tales, and even stories of sky travelers. The truth is that Dogon tirbesmen are likely to not even know what you are talking about if you ask them.

That being said I didn't write anything about this or keep a list of sources...so when you do research the events keep a few handy.

I would love to plan a trip to go and visit with them, if that is even possible. One of my good friends I met my first year in college was born and raised in Mali, and knows of them, but not a great deal. I hope to do further research in the future and find some better information than internet sites, as they are often unreliable. I have found a few real books on the subject, but I forgot their names!

From what I understand about the Dogon, they have a very exclusive tribal priestly-elder system and cannot (byt their own law) talk at all to outsiders about their "astronomical mysteries" which is "sacred" knowledhe and meant only for their own tribal elders and initiates.

Fairly common with tribal systems worldwide. We find it for example among the American Indian tribelets, even today (e.g. the present day Arizona Pascua (Suremi) Yaqui Tribes who are apparently blood related to a branch of the ancient Toltecs of northern Mexico won't perform their sacred Deer Antler Dances in front of gentiles, i.e. non-Yaqui etc.)

The researcher who interviewed them apparently had lived among them for more than 10 years, and had been inducted into their tribe and gained the confidence of the elders who supposedly had this esoteric knowledge.

There are also a dozen or so tribes in the area around the Dogon who have similar tribal mythological systems and laws of "not talking to outsiders about tribal knowledge" (sort of like the way "goyim" are treated by some other groups we won't name), and these also have only imparted what they claim to know "from those who came down from the sky" to those inducted into the tribe.

This might be the reason why we cannot get much hard information on the subject: also the interviewer who had gained their confidence may have been colouring his account of what they told him in the light of his own scientific knowledge....

It would be nice to get "a second opinion" from another inductee who can talk to another tribal Dogon elder and compare notes...

Amadeus..."It would be nice to get "a second opinion" from another inductee who can talk to another tribal Dogon elder and compare notes..."

Absolutely true. I wonder if anyone would have enough patience for this in the 21st Century? I think it would be great if we could totally confirm what they said awhile back.

This particular story has been debunked for awhile.

www.forteantimes.com...
www.ufoevidence.org...

The fact is Sinobyte, that it has not been completely debunked. From what Amadeus has said the lore may only have been told to certain people, people that gain their trust just like the original anthropologist did. Many ancient cultures handed down their traditions through oral communication, and this would explain the lack of any hard evidence. Im not saying this is 100% correct, but do you really think a group of later outsiders would be able to gain their trust like the original man? Do you think a tribe would just hand over their most precious of beliefs to complete strangers?

Sure, there is good evidence that theorizes he may have made it all up, but no one will ever know unless they gain the confidence and trust of the Dogon people to tell the information to.

Good effort - wish it got more action. No one will probably even see this, but 'bump' and ttt for this thing.

I think the Jury is still out on this one. Great topic, to say the least.

S & F for the recognition of one of our 'unsolved mysteries' (as far as I'm concerned).

The 'lore' itself has clues to its age and origin.

We now know that ALL the outer planets have rings, from Jupiter out to Neptune -- not just Saturn. The other three rings are in the ecliptic plane so are not visible from Earth.

Space travelers would have seen all four ring systems, and anybody learning from them would know of ALL the ring systems.

Earth-dwellers, until the Space Age, could only see one of the rings -- Saturn's.

Whoever told the Dogon, only knew of one of the rings.

Which source does that suggest?

Originally posted by BiffReagle
At first i thought it was absolute #e but i think this is not just a coincidence, perhaps its a result of time travel... i dont know why aliens would come to earth to tell the chosen Dogon people about a star light years away, a trial of time travel would seem more likely.

Probably more like dimensional travel rather than time travel. I say this because i believe that the human concept of time is a manufactured linear creation. Dimensional travel can happen both in physical and non-physical ways through projection, meditation, engineering and perhaps other ways yet to be understood by us,

reply to post by JimOberg

The 'lore' itself has clues to its age and origin.

We now know that ALL the outer planets have rings, from Jupiter out to Neptune -- not just Saturn. The other three rings are in the ecliptic plane so are not visible from Earth.

Space travelers would have seen all four ring systems, and anybody learning from them would know of ALL the ring systems.

Earth-dwellers, until the Space Age, could only see one of the rings -- Saturn's.

Whoever told the Dogon, only knew of one of the rings.

Which source does that suggest?

You're assuming that every member of the tribe has 100% knowledge of their civilization's history, and/or is engaged in the sciences that would have 1) provided this information, and 2) permeated the to all subjects that were interviewed.

Do we know the exact story of how they arrived here? Or, just that they came here from Sirius B? Because that would be easy enough to point out from earth: an elder, in the know (or perhaps part of the 'voyage'), pointing to Sirius, explaining that it is actually a binary system, and saying that's where you're from, seems plausible enough. To the average tribe member, that would be enough [hell, we (Humans) don't even understand THAT argument - we've been fighting over our true origins forever. They need not have an intricate understanding of their immediate system (we didn't, as you know) forever, to understand the origin stories handed down through their ancestors]

What percentage of people on this planet (hell, in this country (U.S.)) do you think could name all the planets, in order, from closest to Sun to furthest (and, how many of those know that Pluto was declassified?)? I am willing to bet it's less than 20%. How much history of our own history has been (remembered as a collective, sure) but, forgotten by the masses.

Weak argument (all outer planets have rings). But, like every other (attempted) 'debunkment' out there: find one - supposed - weak link in the theory, then extrapolate to all other aspects of it. Even when, you haven't even fully thought out plausible, perhaps even simple explanations against your argument.

Typical. Dangerous. Irresponsible.

reply to post by Jazzerman

How did these people get advanced knowledge of astronomy before 3200 BCE, which was only discovered to be true in the 1970's?

Actually, the Dogan People are very clear on how they got the information. Why not just take that at face value, and accept that extraterrestrials taught them all about Sirius and Sirius B?
Oh, I forgot. People think ET doesn't exist.

reply to post by Jazzerman


This really is a fascinating story. And i don't think it's been debunked completely.

Somehow i recall that it was somewhere in nineties when NASA or equivalent confirmed some of the dogon knowledge. I don't know, i might be really misguided about this story too.

Only woke this up, because H!s AA did a nice little segment on'em, just recently.

Please, experts, on either side... feel free to provide supporting /refuting evidence of your claims.