How did migration for wage work affect Dogon masking traditions?

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Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Peasant Dance — folk dance *Peasant Dance*, oil on wood by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1568; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

The migration of young Dogon men to labor markets, driven by the introduction of a cash economy, significantly altered the social foundations of their masking traditions. As these men migrated for wage work, they returned to their communities with urban tastes and habits that disrupted the traditional social patterns upon which the masking societies were based.1

This shift in labor and lifestyle, compounded by the spread of Islam, weakened the original context of the traditions. Over time, the role of the maskers evolved from performing ritual funeral rites to providing paid entertainment for colonial officers and tourists. These commercial performances necessitated changes in movement, duration, and staging, often stripping the dances of their original social purpose and vitality. Today, the tradition continues to face radical changes as dancers engage with urban centers and Western forms of media, further shifting the focus toward commercial reward and national prestige.1