Sacred fishing in Entogo (ZED, 1999)
Title from resource description page (viewed Mar. 12, 2014)
Ritual fishing in a pond in Eastern Mali by the Dogon people. The Dogon arrived in Eastern Mali in the 14th century. Once a year they organise a ritual fishing trip to the Entogo sacred pond to bring good luck to all the participants. The date for fishing is carefully chosen by the elders and Amadoun is the designated messenger to go around and announce the date, with his 13-year-old son Idrissa who is proud to be traveling with his father for the first time. For the Dogon, speech and weaving are closely linked. The word is in the sound of the pulley and the shuttle, filling the empty spaces between the threads. They say here that the stomach is a forge which manufactures speech. Heated by the fire, the water is turned into sound vapor, which becomes loaded with meaning and surges to the throat. At Entogo, the fishing lasts only a quarter of an hour, and each man must trap some of these precious fish, an assurance of peace and happiness in the year to come