Wild Silk Textiles ofthe Dogon of Mali: TheProduction, MaterialEfficacy, and CulturalSignificance of Sheen

LAURENCE DOUNYDr Laurence Douny is an honorary research fellow

at UCL anthropology, where she carried out a

three-year Early Career postdoctoral researchfellowship (2009–12) sponsored by The Leverholme

Trust. Since 2008, she has been researching wild

silk in West Africa, in particular in the Dogon and

Marka-Dafing communities of Mali and BurkinaFaso, as well as in the Hausa region in northern

Nigeria.

Abstract

This article examines wild silk

woven wrappers of the Dogon

of Mali. These luxury cloths called

tombe toun that are worn and

valued by Dogon women for their

sheen embody prestige for

ceremonies as well as they act as

a material identity and a form of

meta-language. In this article, I

discuss the indigenous concept of

sheen as expressed through the

production and usages of wild silk

wrappers. I show that from a Dogon

point of view, sheen mainly refers

to a living force called daoula

inherent to wild silk. Daoula as a

kind of “aura” of the textile

embraces the medicinal and magic

properties of wild silk but also its

durability, strength and material

brilliance. These are drawn out of

the cocoons and threads by use of

technical transformative processes

and through wearing the wrapper,

which acts as a marker of social

visibility and of which daoula

empowers the wearer. I suggest

that the cultural significance

attached to Dogon wild silk

material and textiles that

symbolize Dogon social values

such as personal worth, wealth,

and social status, rests on the

particular materiality of sheen

and therefore the efficacy of this

animal secreted material.

Keywords: wild silk, efficacy, sheen, production techniques, materiality,

social usages

Textile, Volume 11, Issue 1, pp. 58–77

DOI: 10.2752/175183513X13588738654891

Reprints available directly from the Publishers.

Photocopying permitted by licence only.

© 2013 Bloomsbury. Printed in the United Kingdom.

Wild Silk Textiles ofthe Dogon of Mali: TheProduction, MaterialEfficacy, and CulturalSignificance of Sheen

IntroductionAfrican wild silk is perceived as a

material of prestige and it has been

used for centuries in regional

textile industries. This “unexpected

luxury” (McKinney and Eicher 2009)

that is used in textiles that are

associated with wealth and social

status very often strikes one as

being cotton. Examples of wild silk

are found in embroidered works

displayed on Hausa babban riga

gowns (Douny 2011; Perani and

Wolff 1992), but also in woven

textiles such as the Yoruba

Sanyan/AsoOke cloth (Perani and

Wolff 1999) or Malgasy Lamba

(Peigler 2004). Because of its

coarse and lumpy texture wild silk

appears far less lustrous than the

well-known Mulberry silk produced

by the Bombyx mori silkworm. The

Dogon of the Tommo and Tengu-

kan areas1 of Mali produce a

wrapper that contains wild silk

strips called tombe toun2 (Figure 1).

This fabric is composed of grades

of white or light blue and indigo

narrow woven strips that display

horizontally and that are made of

dyed indigo hand-spun cotton and

white silk yarn3 (Figure 1). The

wrapper is an original Marka-

Dafing4 textile that would have

been produced for the past

200 years by the Dogon, according

to oral tradition. In addition to

being an essential component of

bride wealth, this prestigious cloth

that is worn and praised by women

for its “sheen,” and therefore

strength, is used as a shroud to

honor the dead. These wrappers

also retain prestige for local and

regional ceremonies as they

materialize both Dogon and

collective Mande identity (Douny

2013). Due to its “sheen,” tombe

toun as a “must-have” traditional

garment is a means by which

women can successfully display

their prosperous social status at

local public events. In other words,

tombe toun, which is seen as an

affair of women from its production

to wearing it, presents a fashion

opportunity through which Dogon

women in rural areas enhance their

well-being and personal worth.

Moreover, wild silk wrappers bear

Malinke aphorisms, which remind

people of social codes and moral

values as well as prescribing social

behavior. The price5 of the wrapper

is based upon the amount of wild

silk that the fabric contains and that

is treated as a rare and unique

material. Nevertheless, the

wrapper’s production involves

multiple costly stages operated by

craft specialists who are mostly

Dogon women and men, ranging

from processing of raw materials to

indigo dyeing. Yet, it should benoted

that while wild silk is processed by

Dogon women and woven by Dogon

men weavers, the dye work of Dogon

wrappers is carried out either by

Guara women, who are Dogon of the

dyer specialist caste, or by Marka-

Dafing men of the Sokura area in

Mali. Hence, the production of these

wrappers involves complex

gendered economic networks

established amongst the Dogon

themselves and with the Marka-

Dafing of Mali, who also provide

Dogon women with cocoons.

Grounded in an ethnography of

materials (Kuechler 2010), this

article looks at the production and

social usages of Dogon wild silk

textiles by focusing on the material

properties of wild silk and more

specifically on its “sheen,” that is

conceptualized by Dogon people as

daoula6 and that refers to a living

force that resides in all people,

Figure 1Tuntun wrapper made by Marka-Dafing of the Sokura Area in Mali forDogon market. © Trustees of theBritish Museum. Collected by L.Douny.

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 61

things, and animals. In this

respect, I show that Dogon

perception and appraisal of wild

silk as a material of power not only

rests on its aesthetic and economic

values but overall on its medicinal,

magic, and material property of

durability, that all fall into the

definition of daoula. Here, I shall

place particular emphasis upon the

transformative processing of

cocoons into yarns that enables

drawing the “sheen” out of raw

materials. As a result, I am

concerned with the social

significance of wild silk materials

in contemporary Dogon society,

which I envisage in terms of their

material efficacy. Within efficacy,

I consider the material properties

and qualities inherent to wild silk

that constitute its daoula and

therefore the wrappers’ capacity to

produce a particular effect on

people (the wearer and the viewer).

In addition, the sheen of wild silk

as a characteristic of brilliance

constitutes a visual manifestation

of its inherent material properties

and values that signify social

status and through which Dogon

women perform their individuality

by wearing wild silk wrappers that

stand as a popular yet unique

visual mode of self-display

(Rowlands 2011). I discuss the

production and materiality of wild

silk as “sheen” or daoula through

the lens of the anthropology of

techniques (Lemonnier 1992),

which considers efficacious actions

upon matter as a way of seeking

implicit forms of knowledge about

producing and using these

wrappers. In other words, this

paradigm and method underline

modes of production that are

described through detailed

sequences of ethnographic

observations (operational

sequences) about the matter

“in-the-making” (Ingold 2007). Yet,

I see the “making” or production

of the tombe toun wrappers as well

as their daily and ceremonial uses

or “doing” as standing in the same

continuity (Naji and Douny 2009).

In other words, I propose that wild

silk is acted upon in the same way

as the cloth made of this material

acts visually upon individuals

through its particular striped

design made of wild silk that

objectifies cultural meanings as

they bear one or several

aphorisms. These woven syntax

remind Dogon people of social

order, values, and behavior.

Daoula: The Materiality andVisuality of SheenSheen creates visibility and defines

modes of visuality (seeing and

being seen) that are culturally

coded. In West Africa, sheen

remains a dominant visual

characteristic that defines cultural

aesthetics and local expressions of

material identity, personal worth,

and power. Sheen is a visual

property that certain surfaces

possess and that is magnified by

virtue of reflecting light. It attracts

the “eye” and triggers a reaction or

emotion in the viewer. The triad

sheen, light, and color is

embedded into cultural and multi-

sensorial experiences of the social,

natural, and spiritual worlds that

materialize in what Saunders calls

an “aesthetics of brilliance”

(Saunders 2002: 209). Boesen

(2008) describes Wodaabe cattle

herders and traders of Central

Niger with their aesthetics of

luminosity and luster as a criterion

62 Laurence Douny

of cultural self-achievement and so

of high value. Luster is expressed

in many respects, in the

preservation of shiny material

elements of a Western origin in

their home, the whitening of

calabashes used as domestic

vessels, or men dancers’

“grimaces” that enable them to

display the whites of their eyeballs

and their impeccable white teeth

that are enhanced by face painting

and sunset light (Boesen 2008:

595). In many places, sheen is

sought after and when it cannot be

obtained through natural

substances and materials, industrial

alternatives are developed and

used, such as Lurex yarns and rayon

that are woven with cotton (Picton

1995). In West Africa, “brilliance” is

certainly an effective means by

which people make themselves

stand out in a crowd, successfully

displaying their wealth and social

status. Rowlands notes that in

Cameroon: “Aesthetically

the emphasis is on sheen and

luminosity rather than on a

particular color … the preference for

textures and colors that shine”

(Rowlands 1994: 115–16). Rowlands

continues, noting that the visual

impact of bright colors associated to

sheen that connote maturity and

reserve are social markers of

personal achievement as well as

physical beauty and thus personal

worth (Rowlands 1994: 116).

Furthermore, the “brilliance” of

textiles is tantamount to the

“gleam” of precious metals and

minerals used in beaded, gold, or

silver jewelry that is always kept

highly polished. Other well-known

techniques of producing “sheen”

are found by beating cotton damask

using heavy wooden mallets that

confer rigidity to surfaces, a special

glazed or metallic sheen. These

various examples show that many

techniques can be used to

transform, reveal, maintain, or

intensify the brilliance of materials

while acquiring values and

meanings throughout the making

processes.

In many West African cultures,

sheen represents social visibility,

prestige, wealth, and position in a

hierarchy. Ben-Amos suggests that,

in Benin, shining brass magnifies

the power of monarchs by

conveying a sense of beauty mixed

with fear (Ben-Amos 1980: 15). In

many ways, colors, light, and

sheen can dazzle and at the same

time repel. One last aspect of the

significance of sheen that can be

underlined lies in the relationships

between sheen and the sacred.

Shining created by light and colors

can also be imbued with spirituality

(Pinney 2001). As Bourdier has

shown, Tokolor mosques in the

Sudano-Sahelian style are bathed

by a beam of natural light that

strikes the name of God inscribed

on the opposite wall so as to

materialize divine truth “Allah is

light” (Bourdier 1991: 67).

In Dogon culture, wild silk is one

means by which visual sheen is

achieved; other examples can be

found in masks and tunic

decorations that include metallic

elements such as coins that also

create a particular acoustic

environment around the body in

motion. However, in Dogon culture

the concept of sheen is not

restricted to the notion of visual

“brilliance.” In fact, it also has to

be understood as the inherent

values and thus material properties

of wild silk, such as its durability,

strength, medicinal and magic

properties, all described as daoula.

By definition, the term refers to

an active and living force that

resides in all people, animals, and

objects7 and which makes them

“appreciated or liked by everyone”

as an informant puts it. Their

daoula has an emotional impact

on the viewer, triggering respect,

esteem, or admiration. To clarify,

the notion of daoula is expressed

as “sheen” in the sense of first the

intrinsic, positive, and permanent

values8 of wild silk and second the

efficacy or potency of its

materiality, which manifests

visually as brilliance through

shades of white or light blue that

are obtained through various

processes. In other words, Dogon

explain that what they actually see

in the wrapper and what matters to

them profoundly is the white (pii )

lines of silk that objectify and

reveal “sheen” or daoula and that

Dogon more generally define as

kongonron so, that is “something

(wild silk) that shines like the sun,”

which they say is the brightest

existing light. Therefore, in Western

terms I presume that the “sheen”

or daoula of wild silk can be

understood as the “aura” of the

textile, without any reference to

religion or spirituality, but that

appears more as a positive value

that lies in the properties of wild

silk and that emanates or shines

out of the fiber and makes people

like the wrapper more than any

other textile. The visual aspect of

sheen or daoula of the wrapper is

said to increase and so to improve

over time through wearing the

wrapper as well as through

repeated washing. In fact, as the

cotton element of the wrapper

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 63

wears out, silk becomes visually

brighter. The durability and

strength expressed as tawanso

(or see balla) of the yarns stands

the test of time when compared to

cotton. As Dogon women say,

cotton dies but wild silk will always

remain. One last point to note is

that wild silk wrappers are highly

valued because of their aesthetics

and price, certainly due to the rarity

of the material and their costly

manufacturing, but overall because

of Dogon knowledge and

techniques of production

surrounding wild silk. In fact

making wild silk wrappers requires

particular knowledge about the

nature and materiality of this

mystic and dangerous insect

product (djina diie odjo or kaba ko),

as well as the technical process/

production of textile (Dogon toun9)

forming an indigenous science of

wild silk. Hard work, savoir faire,

and the mastering of wild silk’s

daoula through various techniques

constitute other forms of values

that Dogon people recognize when

they look at the wrapper, as these

techniques serve to create a visual

dimension by drawing out what

resides in materials and objects

through material and symbolic

transformations (Warnier 2006).

Consequently, the “sheen” of wild

silk, and therefore its visibility or

visuality, endows various forms of

social, moral and material values

that add to the aesthetics and

worth of the wrapper.

Drawing out the Sheen:Techniques of TransformingWild SilkFor centuries, way before the

emergence of tombe toun, wild silk

has been collected by Marka-Dafing

traders of Mali and Burkina Faso,

from the remote forests and bush

areas of Mali and then throughout

West Africa. Traders explained to

me that over many generations,

their families have supplied the

wild silk textile producers of

Burkina Faso and Mali with

cocoons (Figure 2). In the Dogon

region, cocoons are traditionally

processed by old Dogon women

who transform them into silk in

Figure 2Stock of cocoons from Nigeriacollected by Marka-Dafing traders(Safane, Burkina Faso).

64 Laurence Douny

groups of three or four, because of

the dangerous nature of the matter

that is said to host avenging

spirits. Young Dogon women are

always forbidden to cook the

cocoons because it is believed that

by doing so, the remaining live

caterpillars that are killed cause

the birth of infants with deformities

or stillbirths. Symbolic connections

are established between gestation

in a woman’s womb and the

metamorphosis of the larva into a

moth inside the cocoon.

Types of Cocoons andAlternative FibersOne of my informants recalls that

wild silk was discovered by a

Marka-Dafing hunter who found

cocoons one day in the trunk of a

tree. Thinking that the matter was

edible, his wife cooked it for hours

before observing that a spongy

heap of threads, the texture of

which was comparable to wet

cotton, had been released from the

hard shells. The light brown yarn

obtained after brushing and

spinning the matter rapidly became

very popular because of its

noticeable material qualities of

sheen: its remarkable tensile

strength and durability. In fact, wild

silk is a secretion (protein fiber)

produced by caterpillars that are

named by Dogon “sounsoun soole”

which translates as: “the

caterpillar that fears problems,”

a name that alludes to the manner

in which a caterpillar envelopes

itself in a hard cocoon made of

filaments of silk that it spins

through secretion in order to

protect it from external aggression

and ensure its metamorphosis into

a moth.

The most readily available types

of cocoons are the large spongy

and whitish goro ba (thick skin)

found in Nigeria10 (Figure 3), where

they develop on tamarind trees

(Tamarindus indica). Another

variety called goro dialen (very

hard skin) (Figure 4), which

contains little fiber and is rather

difficult to process, is collected on

the kola tree in Ivory Coast and in

the Republic of Guinea. A small red

cocoon called tuntun bleni of a

light brownish red color, as well as

tuntun de (Figure 5), the inside of

the cocoon which produces a

creamy silk, are both imported

from Ghana. In addition, various

affordable alternatives11 to wild silk

of plant or industrial origin have

been used over time due to the

high cost or lack of wild silk. These

are notably the fiber of dried pods

of the red flowered silk-cotton

(Bombax buonopozense) called tou-

oule or tongoron, the fiber of the

kapok pod called bananden (Ceiba

pentandra), an indigenous variety

of cotton called kouni kagadji that

possesses a relative hard texture,

and yarns spun from polyester

foam.

Technical Production ofWild Silk YarnsAs I have observed, the

production12 of wild silk yarns

Figure 3Wild silk cocoons called goro bacollected in Nigeria.

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 65

consists of a long, painstaking, and

costly process that consists first of

boiling the cocoons in an alkaline

water containing some natural and

or chemical potash. This

degumming process frees the

Figure 4Wild silk cocoons called goro dialencollected in Ivory Coast.

Figure 5Wild silk cocoons called tuntun deinside of cocoon collected in Ghana.

66 Laurence Douny

threads from the silk gum (sericin)

that binds them together (Figure 6).

In the second stage, the matter is

washed several times with soap

and left to dry in bright sunlight

for a couple of days allowing the

fiber to brighten. The silk gum dust

that remains in the fiber is beaten

out and at the same time this

softens the fiber.

Third, the mass of threads is

disentangled by use of a pair of

hand-held carders, to be spun

finally into a single yarn, which is

drawn out of the lump of carded

silk.13 Spinning also serves to

smooth the yarns and to some

extent to draw the sheen out of

them, knowing that the type and

quality of threads very much

depend on the number of twists

and the spinning direction (Kriger

2006: 9). Later, wild silk and pre-

dyed indigo cotton yarns are woven

into narrow stripes14 on a

horizontal double-heddle loom by

the sourougan,15 who are men

weavers. These strips are sewn

side by side to form a wrapper

2 m × 1 m,16 a task that is mainly

conducted by women. Finally, the

whole wrapper is dyed by the Dogon

Gwara dyers or by the Marka-Dafing

dyers of the Sokura area, whose

dyeing work enjoys considerable

reputation. Wild silk slightly

absorbs indigo dye, called gala

(indigofera arrecta). Depending on

the type of wild silk, the

composition of the dye, and how

long the fabric is exposed to it, the

wild silk stripe turns into shades of

light blue.17

Dogon women have control over

the production of wild silk

wrappers since they are, by

tradition, responsible for producing

clothes for their children and

husbands. Women also create

small local businesses that involve

selling bobbins of yarns and

wrappers on Dogon markets, which

are very well stocked with wild silk

materials and alternatives and

where the finest wrappers from

Mali and Burkina Faso displaying

a broad range of models can be

found. The production of wild silk

wrappers embodying long practice

objectifies Dogon identity through

“wearing” and “making” the

wrappers, which imply complex

technical processes requiring skills

and knowledge about raw materials

of insect and plant origins, their

material properties, and finally,

knowledge about chemical processes

in action during processing of the

cocoons. These techniques and

knowledge constitute a form of

heritage that Dogon ancestors

learned from Marka-Dafing, with

whom they marry, trade, coexist on

contiguous land, and share a

common Mande origin, according to

both communities.

The Material Efficacyof Wild SilkThe material properties of wild silk

that women define as its tensile

strength, durability, and brilliance

as well as its medicinal and magic

properties are identified as

unrivaled values or daoula. In fact,

Dogon women observe that while

cotton stripes wear out, wild silk

weaving stands the test of time.

Wild silk challenges time and the

aging human body that once wore

Figure 6Degumming process of the cocoons.

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 67

the wrapper. In colonial times,

domestication of moths found in

Nigeria—later dropped because of

production costs—had been

considered to manufacture

parachutes because of the

remarkable tensile strength of the

material (Golding 1942). Beyond

interpretations relating women’s

investment in durable cloth to their

precarious living conditions, locally

produced fabrics prevail over

imported cloth and clothing

because of its outstanding quality

but also because traditional cloth

made of local raw materials stands

as a local science and embodied

practice that is inscribed in the

long term and therefore forms a

heritage they call atem/atiembe

and that Dogon are proud of.

Brilliance that is obtained through

complex transformative process

involving cooking, beating, carding,

spinning, and washing the threads

is said to improve through time. I

also gathered from Dogon women

that the material confers medicinal

and magic properties. In fact, living

larvae found in the cocoons are

often consumed to cure diabetes

(cikoro nouran), tetanus (“min”

called “the incurable wound”), as

well as to reduce high blood

pressure. In addition, a decoction

of twigs or wood on which wild silk

cocoons are spun is used to purge

children who suffer from a chronic

form of malaria that is diagnosed

as kono, a term that refers to the

owl that casts the disease on small

children by stealing their souls. The

same wood in contact with the

cocoons can be smoked to heal

migraines caused by malevolent

spirits. Finally, as explained by a

Dogon marabout (Muslim holy man

who possesses mystic powers),

wild silk yarns may be used to seal

amulets as well as to sew the

magic leather pouches on hunters’

shirts. He continued that the

efficacy of silk in this particular

garment lies in the mystic

properties of the insect-secreted

substance that is found in bush or

forest areas perceived as

dangerous because they host

multiple forms of spirits or djinns.

In West African Islamic magic, silk

threads are also dipped into the

inky rinse of Koranic boards,

impregnated with Koranic verses

written for recitation, and then

folded into a leather charm.18 In

both cases, wild silk yarn’s mystic

and powerful materiality is reinforced

through magic. Consequently, the

transformation processes about

producing wild silk are also means

of bringing out the daouala or

remarkable values of the matter, as

well as ways of mastering this

“natural force.”

Wild Silk Wrappers as Modesof Visual CommunicationThe white/blue and indigo stripe

design of tombe toun wrappers

bears one or several aphorisms19

that remind people of society’s

moral values and express critiques

to particular individuals. The

nonverbal communication function

of African wrappers such as the East

African kanga or Kalabari dresses of

Nigeria has been unwrapped

elsewhere (Beck 2000; Michelman

and Eicher 1995). In a similar way,

the woven bands of wild silk

wrappers act as a meta-language of

which visual expression is created

and enhanced through the sheen of

white silk contrasting with indigo

stripes (Figure 7). Here, wild silk

as a material of power enables

68 Laurence Douny

expressing and legitimizing

messages that cannot be verbalized

otherwise. In other words, proverbs

that are expressed in both Malinke

and Dogon languages reach their

targets because of the efficacy of

wild silk that lies in its materiality.

In this case, wild silk wrappers are

means of communication by which

social inadequacy is contained, for

instance, by preventing women from

confronting verbally and therefore

subverting the authority of their

husbands or of the elders, yet

allowing them to express their

points of view and critiques. In

other words, tombe toun wrappers

materialize power relationships that

are negotiated through visual and

material display, providing that

people share the same cultural

codes. The proverb “Sinan reme

dabe,” meaning “the co-wife walks

by the front door without looking

up,” expresses the settling of

scores between two co-wives. In

plain terms, this visual aphorism is

way of expelling the co-wife from

the compound. Fatou20 explains the

social mechanism of these

aphorisms as follow: “you look for

weakness of your enemy and that is

what you put in the wrapper.” In the

same way, “Den wolo kadi,”

meaning “it is good to have

children,” indicates rivalry between

a woman who has children and her

co-wife who does not have any.

Tombe toun wrappers also enable

one to address serious issues by

enabling avoidance of fatal

conflicts. For instance, the design

called: “Dabali zou bo ya yere kalla”

meaning “witchcraft goes back to

the one who does it” enables one to

react to witchcraft with impunity.

Finally, these proverbs can express

an axiom of wisdom that is

commonly accepted as a form of

truth, for instance: “sanaa ke lon e

dabe ake lon e ke wali fe,” which

means “action is better than

words.” In sum, wild silk wrappers

as expensive items of power

constitute a notable form of meta-

language as well as an effective

marker of social visibility that

enables Dogon women to express

messages that could not be spoken

otherwise, because of the

devastating social consequences

these critiques would instantly and

inevitably bring with words.

Wild Silk Wrappers as a Markerof Sociocultural VisibilityWild silk indigo striped wrappers

have always been considered by

Dogon women as their most

precious item of clothing. In fact,

this new fashion was introduced in

Dogon rural areas some 200 years

ago by Marka-Dafing people and

through trade but also inter-ethnic

marriages. At that time in the Dogon

region, clothing was restricted to

plain white cotton and plain indigo

dyed cloth. Salimata21 explains that

tombe toun rapidly became highly

coveted because of its sheen or

daoula that attracts the eye and

Figure 7Aphorism as shown reads as “Finbadafila.”

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 69

makes women socially visible, often

expressed as “making oneself feel

important.” As one can observe

during national festivals such as

Gina Dogon and Women’s Day

(March 8), Dogon wild silk wrappers

express regional regional identities.

At Gina Dogon in February 2011,

dozens of performers were line

dancing and proudly representing

their Tengu or Tomo-kan community

and their ancestors that the

wrapper represents through its

particular design and thus visuality

(Figure 8). As Jeanne22 explains, the

wrapper also acts as a reminder

of Dogon women’s worth: “when I

wear it (the wrapper), I feel beautiful

and I pay tribute to my community.”

Wild silk makes women visible, as

opposed to cotton cloth that makes

women “unseen,” expressed by

Dogon as: “tombe toun kouni banga

kouwa pere kouni toun banga ire,”

meaning “A woman who wears

tombe toun is ten times more visible

and ‘expressive’ than a woman who

wear cotton.”

Wild Silk Wrappers as VisualMarkers of Social Prestigeand StatusOvercrowded places likemarkets are

social spaces where Dogon women

very often enjoy outshining their

rivals by dressing up conspicuously:

a situation that inevitably generates

gossip and criticisms from jealous

women (Figure 9). In this sense, wild

silk wrappers are visually compelling

because of their sheen that imparts

visibility to the wearer, who can

stand out among people dressed in

wax print, or plain indigo garments

and Western clothes. As Lere23

explains:

Tombe toun is a very visual

thing because of its sheen. If

you want to be looked at, but

also want to be heard, then you

just have to wrap it (tombe toun)

around to become straight away

the target of griots24 who

eagerly and loudly compliment

you. So, they don’t stop raving

about your outfit, your beauty

Figure 8Gina Dogon ceremonies inBandiagara town in February 2011.

70 Laurence Douny

and elegance through songs

and by declaiming your family’s

history. You are glorified, it

shores you up because it makes

you visible.

Here, Lere’s quote reveals that the

wrapper brings fame and therefore

social recognition by revealing the

social status of wearer as well as

bestowing beauty and honor on

women. Although tombe toun

wrappers made of wild silk

alternatives such as kapok are

worn by a lot of women because

they are more affordable, they are

immediately spotted by other

women as “counterfeit.” As I

observed, many old Dogon women

often possess several wild silk

wrappers that they have

accumulated over time, through

making and buying. These personal

collections represent their personal

worth25 and pride in being able to

afford wild silk and being highly

knowledgeable about making these

fabrics. In the same way, the

striped design of wild silk textiles

reinforces ideas of personal worth

as its colors materialize significant

events in women’s life cycle, such

as her marriage, birth of children,

and funeral. These events are

expressed by tombe toun’s indigo

and white/light blue color. In fact,

the color white called pii26 is

generally associated with marriage,

baptism, or funerals and it signifies

an event that stands out from

everyday life, as it brings about a

new state of things. On the other

hand, indigo or dark blue,

perceived as a different tone of

black,27 symbolizes moistness and

fertility (Brett-Smith 1990–91: 164,

165) and it is worn in everyday life

as a means to symbolize

“quotidian life.” Thus, the

combination of both colors

materializes the complementarities

of happy or sad events in a

woman’s life, signifying

completeness.

The Importance of Wild SilkWrappers in Dogon MarriageIn Dogon tradition, marriage, and

therefore the act of “marrying,” is

known as fourou paga,28 a term

that describes “attaching or

binding.” While customary,

religious (Islamic, Christian,

Animist), and civil marriages all

take place in Mali (De Jorio 2002)

the latter tends to be less observed

in rural areas. Marriage29 in the

Dogon, and I assume anywhere

else in Mali, is a very visual event

that often turns into a

disproportionate show organized

and animated by griot women and

in which public display of goods

offered to, borrowed, or collected

by the bride stands as essential

means of demonstrating the

material strength of the bride and

of her husband’s family. The

gathering of goods or gifts30

called “foute,” a Fulbe term, also

referred to by the Dogon term of

“guemourou” or “domnou,” is

Figure 9Three old Dogon women (left) and oneyoung Dogon woman (right) wearingtombe toun on market day. Photo bySalif Sawado.

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 71

constituted over as much as three

years and the gifts are offered by

the family of the groom to the bride

and her family at different stages of

the marriage process. These

concepts designate the material

means (money, objects, cattle …)

invested in a marriage by the

parents of the groom and that they

offer to the bride and her family,

before, during, and after the

marriage is fully concluded. By

offering these prestigious gifts, the

groom and his family aim at building

relationships of trust with the

groom’s family. Gift-giving

constitutes a long process starting

before the actual wedding

ceremony. At that time, the future

bride will start receiving gifts that

aremeant to influence her to commit

wholeheartedly to her marriage.

While Cunningham has

demonstrated the cultural

significance of enamel pots in the

Inner Niger Delta marriage

institution (Cunningham 2009), in

the Dogon region, cloth seems to

play a singular role. In fact, as

voiced by Salimata:31 “A marriage

without a tombe toun wrapper is a

failed marriage.” In other words, if

the groom’s family is not able to

offer one or more silk wrappers to

their future daughter-in-law, shame

befalls them and the marriage can

be called off. The number of

wrappers offered to the bride

sparks off positive comments from

the community of the young woman

who, as a bride, slips on a new

wealth status through which she

gains social recognition.

The newly married woman

wears her wild silk wrappers at

many different occasions when

she is being introduced by her

husband to his family, his friends,

and the old men of the village.

The wrapper displays her newly

married status known as yakana,

meaning “the new woman,”

a term that also applies to a

woman who has recently given

birth. The wrapper is the visual

means by which a woman is

celebrated and she employs it to

display her new social status and

personal wealth. In fact, prior to

their marriage, many young Dogon

girls spend a couple of years in

local towns or in Bamako as a way

of making cash that is spent on

personal effects and mainly on

essential household utensils (e.g.

cooking utensils, soap, basins, and

buckets, etc.) that she will need

once married. The act of making

the move out of the village so as

to obtain these personal and

utilitarian objects through paid

work is called “gueroun dene,”

which means “searching for

things.”32 In addition to the things

that she acquires herself and

brings to her marriage, she

receives various textiles, soap,

perfumes, incense, shoes, etc.,

from the women on her mother’s

side, which express gestures of

material and psychological support

while the young woman is

preparing herself to get married.

If the bride has not managed to

obtain a wild silk wrapper by

herself or through her mother,

she is criticized for being poorly

educated and coming from a

careless family. The mothers of

newly married women I met had

either already produced or were

producing wild silk wrappers

destined for their daughters, as a

way of reminding the young women

that they can always count on their

mothers. It is no surprise that the

72 Laurence Douny

wrapper: “Batono ti ban,” meaning

“the usefulness of a mother never

ends,” is popular in this context.

Here, relationships between

lineages, families, and parents are

strengthened through cloth. In this

way, the importance of the tombe

toun wrapper primarily lies in its

monetary value that is materialized

in wild silk stripes and in the fact

that the cloth conveys great social

significance to the bride because of

its daoula or sheen that imparts

power and beauty and overall

maturity and attainment in life.33 In

fact, wild silk wrappers legitimize

her new, elder status as a well-

married adult and thus a complete

woman who has now integrated her

husband’s father’s compound

where she will raise their children

and be in charge of the core of

domestic duties.

The End of Life: The Use ofTombe Toun as a ShroudThe use of tombe toun wrappers as

a shroud is still a very popular

practice in the Dogon region

whereas in the Marka-Dafing region

of Mali, where I also inquired about

the practice since the wrapper was

originally produced by them, my

informants told me that this

custom is not approved by

Wahhabi Islam. Therefore, they had

abandoned it “a very long time

ago” as they put it. Traditionally,34

in the Dogon region, a wild silk

wrapper that has belonged to a

deceased woman is hung on the

facade of the deceased’s

compound shortly after her death

is announced in a village, to

indicate the death of a “married

woman.” In the first instance, the

body of the deceased35 is wrapped

in a gaamba cloth (plain white

cotton). Then, when the time comes

to take the body to the cemetery,

the tombe toun wrapper is taken

down from the facade to cover the

body as a shroud.36 Once the body

lies in the grave, the shroud is

removed and brought back to the

daughters or nieces of the

deceased. This ritual practice

highlights the capacity that cloth

possesses in binding different

temporalities, that is the durability

of wild silk materials that stands

the test of time as I have discussed

above in the text, and here its

inscription in the long term as it

forms part of the heritage passed

on to a new generation.

The display of the body wrapped

in a brand new, wild silk cloth

indicates here again the wealth and

high social status of the deceased

as well as her personal worth. As

my informants have suggested,

due to the lack of money and the

increasing rarity of wild silk,

producing or buying wild silk

wrappers represents a personal

sacrifice. In fact, many Dogon

women make little money in the

course of their life and they usually

spend that on spices, vegetables,

cooking utensils, their children’s

clothing, and healthcare. Their

marriage is probably the main

occasion when they accumulate

wild silk indigo wrappers, but the

cotton element of the wrappers

wears out during their lifetime.

Therefore, those who have the

chance to possess one of these

brand new textiles towards the end

of their life, preciously fold it in

their carabara, a calabash fitted

with a lid, that they hide in their

room, until the time of their “final

ceremony,” as a Dogon woman put

it. The wrapper turned into a

shroud is called andayeii, meaning

the “eternal voyage.” As Yassan37

explains:

When we Dogon women have to

travel to another village or to

town, to visit relatives, give our

condolences, or attend a

marriage, we wear our most

beautiful wrapper that we call

andayeii … A dead woman wears

her most beautiful wrapper

called andayeii to show that this

is her “final travel,” and she

ends her life in beauty.

Kadia38 adds that:

a funeral is a way of being seen

for one last time and being

remembered as a respectable

person. Covering the deceased

woman’s body with the wrapper

is a way to honor her for the last

time. It generates positive

comments from the villagers on

her funeral and in turn, it honors

her family.

Traditionally, the shroud is also

meant to appease the soul of the

dead, while a last tribute is paid to

her through positive comments

about her capacity for courage

throughout her life and having been

able to obtain such an elaborate

and prestigious shroud whose

daoula shines out of the fabric.

Wrapping the deceased with wild

silk is also a sign of respect towards

her family as it helps to alleviate

sadness by celebrating her dignity,

beauty, and worth one last time. It

is also a means of materializing the

end of a woman’s life cycle.

ConclusionIn this article, I have focused on

the cultural significance of wild silk

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 73

as a costly and rare material that

endows the materiality of sheen

which in Dogon society is

expressed as daoula, an active

force that lies in wild silk and that

concerns first its inherent value in

terms of material properties of

durability, strength, and brilliance

that improves over time, as the

material is perpetually “evolving.”

Second, it encompasses the

medicinal and magic properties

of wild silk in curing illness and

protecting against malevolent

entities. Finally, with regard to its

aesthetic and economic values,

the making process of these tombe

toun wrappers and the

transformation of wild silk, in

particular, allow drawing forth the

sheen or daoula from the raw

material. Through the

transformative process of wild silk

that requires knowledge and skills,

Dogon women act upon matter and

thus master the vital force of wild

silk. Finally, the prestigious

wrapper stands as a marker of

social visibility, a celebration of

women that in the meantime

materializes Dogon and Mande

identities as well as legitimizing

social codes and moral values.

Therefore, in a Dogon view, the

sheen of wild silk is not only a

visual quality but it overall

describes a series of material

properties that constitute the

efficacy of wild silk and thus its

materiality.

AcknowledgmentsThis project was made possible

thanks to Claude Ardouin (1950–

2011) and the Leverhulme Trust

that sponsored my postdoctoral

research (2009–12). I am indebted

to Salif Sawadogo, Mamadou Doro

and his family, and Lossani Dayo

for their help in the field, as well as

all my Dogon and Marka-Dafing

informants. I am thankful to Dr

Diawara and Dr Sissoko at Point

Sud, and Dr Maiga and Dr Guindo

at the CNRST in Bamako (Mali); Dr

Some and Mr Basile Guisson

(delegue general) at the CNRST in

Ouagadougou (Bukina Faso).

I would like to thank Salif Sawadogo

who provided Figure 9. I would

like to thank the Material Culture

Group at UCL for sponsoring the

copy-editing and Violet Diallo

(GAP/Bamako) for copy-editing this

article. I am grateful to Julie Hudson

at the British Museum who kindly

provided the photograph of the

wild silk wrapper (Trustees of the

British Museum). Finally, I would

like to thank the two anonymous

reviewers.

Notes1. These communities live to

the southwest of Bankass, in

the western plain. All terms

are expressed in tommo and

tengu kan.

2. Sometimes it is called tombe or

tomei, and is called tuntun by

the Marka-Dafing of Mali. The

term refers to caterpillars,

cocoons, wild silk, and the

wrapper itself. The colors of

Marka-Dafing of Burkina Faso

wrappers are generally lighter

than these of Marka-Dafing of

Mali and of the Dogon.

3. The data included in this article

are taken from ongoing research

on wild silk textiles of West

Africa that is sponsored by the

Leverhulme Trust (2009–12).

4. Wild silk wrappers of Marka of

Burkina Faso are described in

Hill-Thomas (2012).

74 Laurence Douny

5. Its price varies between 5,000

cfa (about £6.60) for a wrapper

made of nylon to 30,000 cfa

(about £36), including the

headgear, for a wrapper made

of a minimum of 50 percent

wild silk.

6. The Dogon term daoula is

borrowed from the Malinke/

Bambara term mandiya. Here,

the concept of daoula has to be

understood in aDogon context of

verbal expression customs and

practices. This concept is also

found in Marka-Dafing regions.

7. Not to be confused with the

concept of nyama, which refers

to a reactive living force that lies

in people, things, and animals

and acts back when provoked.

8. The concept of sangah refers

to something of an ephemeral

value or property that

produces a temporary

appreciation, or affect.

9. In Bambara/Malinke, this is

expressed as An yere ka fani

dila may, which refers to the

knowledge about properties

and transformation of wild silk

into textile. Marka-Dafing

communities of Burkina Faso

refer to it as Dafing pon (cloth

produced by the Marka-Dafing).

In Burkina Faso, textiles in

general are called Faso dan fani

(wrapper that is woven in the

house of the father/family

head). In the Dafing areas, it

is called Dafing fani (the cloth

produced by the Dafing).

10. It was identified as Epanaphe/

Anaphe moloneyi (Druce)

(African Wild Silk 1916: 167;

Ene 1964). A great majority of

African wild silk moths identified

belong to the Anaphe and

Epanaphe genera (Peigler 1993).

11. From 5,000 cfa (£6.50) as

opposed to 12,000 (£17) up to

30,000 cfa (£36) for a wild silk

wrapper.

12. As I gather through systematic

observations that are grouped

into comparative operational

sequences and over fifty

interviews on the theme of wild

silk processing, although the

making process of wrappers

remains the same, notable

differences as regards beliefs

(e.g. tradition), perception of

the raw materials and its

transformation, as well as

social uses of the cloth, exist

between Dogon and Marka-

Dafing communities of Mali and

Burkina Faso. For instance, the

impact of various forms of

Islam (e.g. Wahabitism) and

modernism (e.g. new fashion

styles and clothing from Africa,

the Middle East (Dubai), and

the West (Paris, Brussels)

brought in by traders) are two

significant factors that affect

the production and

consumption of the wrappers

in different ways in all three

groups.

13. Twenty cocoons give one

bobbin (length not determined)

which costs between 1,500 cfa

(small) (£2) and 3,000 cfa

(large) (£4).

14. Narrow strips coming from the

loom are wound in a roll called

tuntun bolo (one roll is 50 m

long) which often acts to store

value. One meter of wild silk

narrow strip mixed with indigo

dye cotton is worth between

300 cfa (wholesaler) (40p) and

600 cfa (retailer) (80p). Some

women make stocks of these

rolls, whose strips they sell at

times of shortage of wrappers

on the local markets,

generating greater profit than

usual.

15. This is a common term used in

both Tommo and Tengu

languages. However, the

following terms are also used:

kourou te (Tengu)/toun-tiawan

(Tommo).

16. Production of wild silk

wrappers requires

considerable outlays. For one

wrapper: 20 to 25 cocoons

(Ivory Coast) cost from 1000 to

1500 cfa (£1.30–£2),

combustible (wood, if bought)

costs 200 cfa (weaving = 1,000

cfa (£1.30); dyeing = 250/300

cfa (33p–40p); sewing = 250/

300 cfa (33p–40p). While the

production cost of a wrapper

starts at 7,000 cfa (£9.15),

sales profits vary between 750

(98p) and 1,000 cfa (£1.30).

17. Very light shades of blue or

white indicate the authenticity

of wild silk that is also heavier

than alternatives.

18. This practice is also found in

Hausa land of northern Nigeria.

19. One wrapper can hold several

aphorisms. I collected over

eighty aphorisms mostly

expressed in Malinke language.

20. November 27, 2009: Tanga

(interview).

21. March 30, 2011: Sama

(interview).

22. February 26, 2011: Bandiagara

(interview at Ginna Dogon).

23. March 28, 2011: Segue

(Interview).

24. In Mande tradition, griots,

called jeliw, are poets,

musicians and storytellers,

historians, and keepers of

family genealogies.

Wild Silk Textiles of the Dogon of Mali 75

25. Similar practice was observed

by Lane with regard toold

women’s accumulation of

various kinds of objects in the

Sangha area (Lane 2008,

2005).

26. Pii sogoro refers to a variety of

white (dirty white) that has

slightly taken on another color,

or has become darker, for

instance lightbrownor lightblue.

27. In Dogon vocabulary there is

no term for “blue,” as it is

perceived as a variety of black.

However, Dogon refer to blue

as boula that is the brand of

the laundering blue produced

in Mali.

28. The term fourou is a Bamana

term, while paga is a Dogon

term.

29. I have mostly conducted this

ethnography amongst Dogon

Muslim families who

associated Islam and tradition.

30. In Bambara, it is referred to as

“fourou nafolo.”

31. February 25, 2011: Bankass

(interview).

32. The gifts and objects the future

bride buys herself, as well as

these she receives from the

women of her family, might be

described as a trousseau,

although I could not find an

equivalent term in Dogon

language.

33. Young women of wealthy

families who are seen wearing

wild silk wrappers are perceived

as arrogant and said to be

mocking engaged/married

women whose social status is

gained through marriage, which

signifies a complete woman.

Here, the wrapper shows a

woman’s married status and

therefore maturity.

34. I say “traditionally,” as the

custom (atem) of using cloth

and so tombe toun as a shroud

was expressed in this way by

my informants who belong to

the Muslim, Catholic, and

Protestant communities.

35. Men are wrapped in a large-

sized, thick blanket called

uldebe (Bankass area).

36. Similar practices are found

across West Africa; for

instance, see John Picton’s

research on Ebira cloth and

description of its involvement

in funerals in Nigeria (Picton

2009).

37. February 17, 2011: Dialassagou

(interview).

38. February 18, 2011: Dialassagou

(interview).

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