Rain Dance

The rain dance is a functional action form used to appeal to the ancestral spirits or deities during [Page 560]periods of drought. As an ancient ritual, the rain dance harks back to the time when humans believed that the lack of rain was caused by some wayward action or lack of action on the part of the human society. There had to be propitiation of the gods for the proper order to be reestablished. Thus, one can often find, even today, in the arid parts of the African continent many people who use rain dances, and the accompanying offerings and rituals, to end drought.

For example, among the Dogon in Mali, the use of dances for rain is attached to the majestic Dogon-Tellem figures that are known as “they who request of the spirits that the rain be released.” The powerful ancestral figures are a collective prayer for rain. Singing and dancing around the figure, the priests are able to invoke the most archaic images in the land.

When the Dogon fled an awful war unleashed against them by the martial Mossi soldiers in 1490, they settled in the cliffs of Bandiagara in the territory that had been occupied by the Tellem people. This was a hot, dry, semi-desert area. When more Dogon came into the region, they began to accept the Tellem culture and customs, even following their artistic and aesthetic patterns. One of the best examples of cultural assimilation is in the Dogon-Tellem style of art related to the rain dance. The definite and exact raised arms of the Dogon-Tellem prayer for rain are the finest examples of ancestral figures used for rainmaking in West Africa.

The Dogon have many rituals and great philosophical traditions. However, there are special priests whose job it is to organize and orchestrate the rain rituals. They cannot be left to chance or to anyone because the lack of rain means that the people will not be able to plant their crops and, should they plant them, the plants would die for lack of water. If there are no plants, there can be no harvest, and without a harvest, the people and the livestock will perish. There is no ceremony or ritual more important to the Dogon than the rain ceremony. Should the priest be successful and the rains come in abundance, then the people will enjoy a bountiful life. There is then a collective spirit of hope and optimism at the root of all Dogon ritual services for rain.

Among the Ihanzu of Tanzania, there are several rain rites. Some of these rites are performed annually at the beginning of the growing season. However, should these annual rites fail to bring on the rains, the people will then have complementary rituals until the rains fall. There is an ancestral offering for rain (mapolyo a mbula) that is usually made after it has been divined that the royal Anyampanda clan spirits demand the offering before the rains will come. Normally, the offerings take place over a period of 2 days, during which time the people focus their attention on the blessings that have been sent by the Anyampanda spirits. However, the entire ritual can last for 1 month or more.

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