Dozo 4226386 223308669 2008-07-03T14:24:11Z Open2universe 367488 /* In Ivorian society and politics */ link repair ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Red Link Recovery|You can help!]] {{about|the hunters|the song|"V" Is for Vagina}} [[Image:Chasseur bambara.jpg|thumb|right|260px|A traditional hunter (in this case, a [[Bambara]] in [[Mali]]), showing the distinctive brown hunting suit and ''gris-gris'' [[amulet]]s worn around the neck.]] The '''Dozo''' (also '''Donzo''', [[Bambara language|Bambara]] for ''hunter'', pl. '''donzow''') are traditional [[hunter]]s in northern [[Ivory Coast]], southeast [[Mali]], and [[Burkina Faso]], and members of a co-fraternity containing initiated hunters and sons of Dozo, called a ''Donzo Ton''. Not an ethnic group, the Dozo are drawn mostly from [[Mande languages|Mandé]]-speaking groups, but are also found among [[Dioula language|Dyula]]-speaking communities and most other ethnic groups in [[Ivory Coast]]. Dozo societies increased in the last decades of the twentieth century, and Dozo groups came into political prominence during the [[Ivorian Civil War]]. == Donzo Ton == The Donzo Ton (''Ton'' is a Mandé word for age-group, religious, or vocational associations) are but one of a number of hunter fraternities common in Mandé-speaking areas of West Africa. Similar, and in the case of West Africa closely related groups, exist as the [[Kamajor]] in [[Sierra Leone]], [[Poro]] in [[Liberia]], the [[Mayi-Mayi]] in [[Congo]], and the [[Karamojong]] in [[Uganda]]. Sons of Dozos, as well as new adherents, are able to be initiated into the Ton, and undergo a series of secret rituals. There has been a long history of these hunter collectives (the [[Segu]] [[Bambara empire]] is said to have grown from such a ''Ton'') and hunters were often viewed by farming or pastoralist neighbours as possessing special power, wisdom and strength. Collective organisations, as with many vocations in West Africa, existed in part to train and pass on needed skills. Hunters, though, are found in every community, and are not a strictly inherited role.<ref>Diallo and Sántha stress this "openness" and lack of inherited identity as crucial to replication of the Donzo Ton. pp.67-69</ref> It is believed that the [[amulet]]s (''gris-gris'') worn by Dozos possess [[Magic (paranormal)|magical]] properties protecting them from harm, and amplifying their [[Visual perception|vision]] and [[Hearing (sense)|hearing]]. Such amulets, inherited brown hunting clothing, as well as special hats, are said to make them [[bulletproof]]. Each local Donzo Ton is led by an elder hunter, the ''donzokuntigi''. Along with ritual and initiation, local Donzo Ton will meet to discuss their work, organise hunts, or settle internal grievances, often in the all-night ''tonsigi'' gathering. In this way, the Donzo Ton operates much like a western [[guild]]. Part of the cultural and ritual tradition of the Donzow surrounds sacrifice and protection of the community. In traditional belief, wild animals killed by hunters released a [[nyama]]: a destructive spirit which afflicted the community benefiting from the kill. Donzo Ton trained to preform rituals, cleansing the nyama and enabling them to both share their bounty with the community of non-hunters, and act as spiritual guardians of settled communities from malevolent forces of the forest or bush.<ref>Joseph Hellweg, especially ''Encompassing the State.'' (2006). Hellweg, who was actually inducted into a Donzo Ton, argues their later role as security guards grows from this same role as community guardians who stand at the threshold of society.</ref> == In Ivorian society and politics == While there are records of hunter ''Ton''s going back to the [[Mali Empire]], since the 1990s there has been a particular growth of local collectives of Donzo Ton in [[Ivory Coast]]. It is believed that this growth first originated along the border with Mali, and spread into forested regions of [[Ivory Coast]]. In Mali, hunter associations were organised into a national union (''l`Association Nationale des Chasseurs''), and one such local Malian group, the ''association WANDOUGOU-BENKADI'', had close contacts with Donzo Ton in Ivory Coast. This is seen as the birth of the ''Benkadi'': a network of Donzo Ton both across Ivory Coast, and into Mali and Burkina Faso. By the year 2000 there were over 22,000 official members of the Ivory Coast Benkadi network Donzo Tons.<ref> Number cited in Caspary. See Bassett (2004) and Caspary (2000). Hagberg traces the growth of ''Benkadi'' in Burkina.</ref> One explanation for the huge growth in the Benkadi network in 1990s Ivory Coast<ref>Bassett (2003)</ref> is the rapid increase in deforestation (and thus more scarce hunting land) in the north, economic hardship in other vocations, along with the growing insecurity across the country fed by fears of civil war spreading from [[Liberia]] and [[Sierra Leone]]. [[World Bank]]-mandated structural adjustment and a currency devaluation in 1994 helped spread an unprecedented crime wave in Ivory Coast. These hunter groups, then, were simultaneously respected (even feared) for their power by neighbours while growing in numbers and organisation while the government slid into ethnic conflict and civil war. In many places the Benkadi were hired or simply stepped in to fill this vacuum. At the beginning of the 1990s, President [[Houphouët-Boigny]] had called on public-minded citizens to aid the police, and as crime increased, local officials drafted in hunters in [[Korhogo]] and [[Ferkessédougou]]. Not only were the hunter militias successful, but their fame spread far beyond the north. Donzow became a common sight in towns and on the roads of Ivory Coast. They were hired by locals and both sides in the [[Ivorian Civil War]] as soldiers, to guard vehicles, direct traffic, or patrol religious sites. This success fed into the growth of Benkadi groups in all parts of Ivory Coast, as the civil war and fragile peace made local organisation of security much sought after. In [[Abidjan]] and [[Bouaké]]. Donzo Ton leaders opened security offices, trading not only on their northern successes, but on a public perception of special (even magical) abilities of Donzow. Unemployed men from around the country came to [[Korhogo]] and [[Odienné]], home of Benkadi leadership, to be initiated into a Donzo Ton, and thus have access to work as well-paid security guards.<ref>for this paragraph, see Bassett, 2004</ref> === Civil War === While Donzow became guards for hire in the unstable years before the 2002 [[Ivorian Civil War]], their network became associated with northern groups who led the rebel forces. The Donzo Ton, viewed as saviours by some in the south, were also seen as unsophisticated throwbacks to a pre-modern era by many in cosmopolitan [[Abidjan]].<ref>Hellweg, 2004</ref> The transnational and northern source of the Donzo Ton were seen to conflict with the ethnic nationalism of [[Ivoirité]] which feared the presence of [[Burkinabé]] labourers and immigrants from Mali as not being "true" Ivorians. Politically, it was [[Rally of the Republicans|Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR)]] politicians from the north who first entrusted the Donzow with policing duties, and the Donzo Ton leadership became associated with the RDR. Nationalist Presidents [[Henri Konan Bédié]], and later [[Laurent Gbagbo]], condemned these armed Benkadi groups as regressive, divisive and dangerous.<ref>Bassett 2004</ref> It was not surprising, then, when the September 2002 coup began the civil war, northern forces included many identifiable Donzow. One rebel group, the [[Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West|Mouvement populaire ivoirien du Grand Ouest (MPIGO)]] was thought to be one-fifth Donzow.<ref>[http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/ACOS-64BT68?OpenDocument&query=dozo&emid=ACOS-635PLK Western Ivorian rebels arrive in Togo to sign truce, raising peace hopes]. Agence France-Presse (AFP), 12 January 2003.</ref> This participation, while earning the enmity of many in the south, has made leaders of the Donzo Ton Benkadi network powerful figures whose support has been sought by Prime Minister (and former rebel leader) [[Guillaume Soro]]'s [[Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire]]. Kuruma Lansine, public head of the Benkadi has become a political leader for standing by and speaking for "the dozos".<ref>[http://allafrica.com/stories/200712310788.html Côte d'Ivoire: American Embassy's National Daily Press Review], 28 December 2007, quotes the RDR paper ''Le Patriote'' reporting Soro's meetings with "Dozos" and their leaders re-affirming their support.</ref> While most studies stress the stabilising nature the Donzo Ton had on the country both before and after the civil war, human rights organisations have documented a pattern of lawlessness, intimidation, and extra-judicial killings Donzow groups beginning from at least 1997, through the 1999 coup (in which Donzo Ton set up checkpoints on roads across the north), and the 2002-2005 war.<ref>See [[Amnesty International]] (below) and [http://www.hrw.org/English/docs/2004/12/15/cotedi9880.htm Human Rights Watch. 2005. World Report. New York: HRW]. pp. 107-114. For one such incident blamed on Dozo militia, see: [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/EVIU-6CZH3Z?OpenDocument&query=dozo&emid=ACOS-635PLK Christophe Koffi: In mourning, southwest Ivory Coast seeks revenge and those responsible]. Agence France-Presse (AFP), 3 June 2005.</ref> ==Music== The Dozo are also known for their praise singers (see [[Griot]]) and ritual, often accompanied by the dozo [[Ngoni (instrument)|n’goni]], a variant of n'goni West African lute said to have originated among the [[Senufo]] hunters of [[Burkina Faso]].<ref>[http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Instruments/Anglais/dpbf_c_txt07_en.html ''dozo n’goni'', Staying in Tune: Traditions and Musical Instruments of the Francophonie, Canadian Heritage Information Network / virtualmuseum.ca].</ref> == See also == * [[Kamajors]] * [[Caste system in Africa]] == References == {{reflist}} * "[http://www.travelafricamag.com/content/view/235/73/ The Ivory Coast: Country Profile]". ''Travel Africa Magazine''. Edition 4: Summer 1998. URL accessed 2006-02-28. * ''[http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/cotedivoire0803/cotedivoire0803.pdf Côte d'Ivoire]''. Human Rights Watch. August 2003, Volume 15, No. 14 (A). * Thomas J. Bassett. Dangerous Pursuits: Hunter Associations (Donzo ton) and National Politics in Côte d'Ivoire. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 73, No. 1 (2003), pp. 1-30. * Thomas J. Bassett. Containing the Donzow: The Politics of Scale in Côte d'Ivoire. Africa Today, Summer 2004, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 30-49. *Hans-U. Caspary [http://www.weissensee-verlag.de/php/cat-inhalt.php3?Buch=3-934479-05-7 Faune sauvage et la filière viande de brousse au Sud-est de la Côte d’Ivoire]. WeißenseeVerlag, Berlin 2000. *Youssouf Diallo and István Sántha. Rituals, forms of behaviour, and solidarity among hunters’ groups in West Africa and South Siberia in [http://www.eth.mpg.de/pubs/jb-04-05/2005_Report_Complete.pdf Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Report 2004-2005], ISSN 1618-8683 *Sten Hagberg. Political decentralization and traditional leadership in the Benkadi hunters' association in western Burkina Faso. Africa Today, June, 2004. * Joseph Hellweg. “Manimory and the Aesthetics of Mimesis: Forest, Islam, and the State in the Ivorian Hunter's Association,” ‘Africa’ Vol. 76, No. 1 (2006): pp. 461-484. * Joseph Hellweg. “Encompassing the State: Sacrifice and Security in the Hunters’ Movement of Côte d’Ivoire,” ‘Africa Today’ Vol. 50, No. 4 (2004): pp. 3-28. *Joseph Hellweg. Dozo Ethics and the Spirit of Nationalism: Resistance, Civility, and Sacrifice in the Benkadi Security Movement. American Ethnologist, (2003). *[http://www.humanite.fr/2001-07-24_International_Les-dozos-guerisseurs-et-chasseurs François Wandji. Les dozos, guérisseurs et "chasseurs"]. [[l'Humanite]]: 24 July 2001. *[http://www.cdd.org.uk/resources/elections/cotedivoire.htm COTE D’IVOIRE: THE GENERAL’S NEW CLOTHES]. CDD Briefing on a fact-finding trip to la Cote d’Ivoire, [[Centre for Democracy and Development]] (UK), April 2000. ==External links== *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/africa_northern_ivory_coast/html/9.stm Dozo Hunters photographed in their traditional clothing and wearing charms]: BBC, No date. *[http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40819000/jpg/_40819000_dozoafp.jpg Dozo hunters in traditional garb]: BBC, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4260652.stm 19 September 2005 "pictures of the day"]. [[Category:History of Côte d'Ivoire]] [[Category:Hunters]] [[Category:Ivorian culture]] [[Category:Ivorian society]]