The Nommo or Nummo are ancient ancestor spirits in the religion and beliefs about the universe of the Dogon people in Mali. These spirits are sometimes called demi-deities. The word "Nommo" comes from a Dogon word meaning "to make one drink." Nommo are often described as creatures that can live in both water and land, having both male and female characteristics, and resembling fish. Artwork shows Nommo with human-like upper bodies, legs and feet, and fish-like lower bodies and tails. They are also known as "Masters of the Water," "the Monitors," and "the Teachers." The word "Nommo" can refer to a specific individual or the group of spirits as a whole. In this article, "Nommo" refers to a single being, while "Nommos" refers to the group.

Nommo mythology

The Dogon religion and creation mythology says that Nommo was the first living creature made by the sky god Amma. Soon after Nommo was created, he changed and became eight beings—four pairs of twins. One of these twins broke the rules set by Amma. To fix this, Amma gave up another of Nommo's children. This child's body was broken into pieces and spread across the universe. The Dogon believe that where these pieces landed, Binu shrines were built in their traditional lands.

In the late 1940s, French researchers Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen (who had studied the Dogon since 1931) learned more secret stories about the Nommo. The Dogon shared with them a belief that the Nommo lived on a planet that orbits the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for details about their knowledge of stars). The Nommo came to Earth in a vehicle that brought fire and thunder. After arriving, they made a large pool of water and then entered it. The Dogon say the Nommo needed water to live. According to the story told to Griaule and Dieterlen: "The Nommo shared his body with people to give them life; that is why it is said that the universe 'drank of his body,' and the Nommo made people drink as well. He gave his life-giving energy to humans." The Nommo are also believed to be the ancestors of the first Hogon.

Controversy

Walter van Beek, an anthropologist who studied the Dogon people, found no proof that they had known about Sirius, a star, in ancient times. He believed that Marcel Griaule, another researcher, asked the Dogon too many leading questions, which may have caused them to create new stories or myths. Van Beek wrote that the Dogon could not agree on which star was being referred to as "sigu tolo" (a term Griaule connected to Sirius). Some believed it was an invisible star that appears before a festival, while others thought it was Venus. However, all agreed that they learned about the star from Griaule.

Carl Sagan noted that the first reports of the Dogon knowing about Sirius as a binary star (a system with two stars) appeared in the 1940s. This time frame gave the Dogon a chance to learn about Sirius and the solar system from people in other cultures who had more scientific knowledge. Some experts also say that binary star systems like Sirius may have very small or no areas where life could exist, making it unlikely for such systems to support life, especially life that depends on water, as some Dogon stories suggest.

Geneviève Calame-Griaule, Marcel Griaule’s daughter and a colleague, defended her father’s work. She dismissed van Beek’s criticism as incorrect and based on a lack of understanding about mystical traditions. Van Beek still believes Griaule was wrong and says other anthropologists also disagree with his research.

Some people claim the Dogon knew about a star called Emme Ya, which they described as larger than Sirius B but less heavy and dimmer. In 1995, scientists found evidence that suggested a red dwarf star might orbit Sirius, but later studies did not confirm this. James Oberg, a space journalist and skeptic, collected reports about Dogon myths in his 1982 book. He said claims that the Dogon learned about Sirius from others are based only on guesses and lack solid proof. He believes the mystery of Sirius will remain unsolved. Earlier, experts like astronomer Peter Pesch and others said the Dogon’s knowledge of Sirius may have been exaggerated by people who misunderstood their stories or influenced their beliefs.

References in fiction

The beliefs about Nommo, along with Robert Temple's ideas from his book The Sirius Mystery, were used by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes as the background for a role-playing game called The California Voodoo Game, which is the third book in their Dream Park series. Novelist Tom Robbins writes about Nommo and the Sirius mysteries in his book Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. The Nommo and the Dogon people are also discussed in Philip K. Dick's novel V.A.L.I.S. The Nommo are mentioned in the second book of Ian Douglas's Legacy Trilogy (Battlespace), where marines meet the Nommo in the Sirius star system. The Nommo are also referenced in Grant Morrison's comic book series The Invisibles. A main character in the webcomic Forming, created by Jesse Moynihan, is named after and inspired by Nommo.

Since 2017, the African Speculative Fiction Society has presented an award called the Nommo Award to recognize science fiction and fantasy writing by African authors or writers from the African diaspora.

In popular culture

Jazz composer and bassist Jymie Merritt created a musical piece called "Nommo" around 1965 as a tribute to the Nommo. A song titled "Nommo" also appears on the 1995 album Spanners by the British electronic group The Black Dog.