The Dogon believe in a single God, Amma, who created the sun, moon and stars. After wards, he created the earth by throwing a ball of clay into space. The ball spread to the four points of the horizon and took on the shape of a woman with an anthill for her vagina and a termite mound for her clitoris. Alone in the universe, Amma attempted to make love to the earth, but the termite mound blocked his path and he tore it out. Because of this violence, the earth could not bear the twins that would have resulted from a happy union and instead gave birth to a jackal.
Amma again had intercourse with the earth, and a pair of twins resulted, known as nommo. They were born of divine semen, the precious water found in everything in the universe. Green in color, their upper bodies were human and their lower bodies like snakes. The nommo are present in all water. Living in the heavens with their father, the nommo looked down on their mother and, seeing her naked, made a skirt into which they wove the first language. Thus the earth was the first to possess speech.
Meanwhile, the jackal was running loose. His mother was the only woman, and he raped her. The earth bled and became impure in the sight of Amma. It’s for this reason that today, menstruating women are considered impure in Dogon society — as they are in nearly all African cultures. When he forced himself upon the earth, the jackal also touched her skirt and thus stole language.