Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1889-05-02

Iibetans from a dog; the Mongol |
khans from blue wolf and white |
hind, etc. The Chinese expression for
their own people is Pih-Sing, which |
means "the hundred family names"
In fact it is computed that there are
about four hundred family names in
China, and intermarriage is forbidden
between persons of the same family
name. In this connection it may be
noted that some Of the Australian
tribes have legend to the effect that
the use of totems was introduced by
command OF the Great Spirit to put
stop to consanguineous marriages.
Some curious items referring to to-
temism are to be found in Dr. Turner's
book about Samoa. Thus, it is said
that If Turtle-man eat of a turtle he
grew very i'll. and the voice of the tu;-
tie was heard in his inside, saying:
+" He ate me; / am killing him. If
Prickly Sea-urchin-man consumed one
of these shellfish. prickly sea-urchin
grew in his body and killed him. If a
Mullet-man ate mullet, he squinted.
Ii a Cockle-man carried away cookie,
it appeared on some part Of his per-
son; and If he ate it, it grew on his
nose. If a Banana man used a banana
leaf for cap, he became bald. If
Butterdy-man caught butterfly, it
struck him dead. If Fowl-man ate
fowl, delirium and death resulted. And
so on-all going TO show that among
some totem peoples, if not among all,
the totem has something of the quail
ty of fetch, as we'll as the signif-
canoe of family emblem.
But, as Mr.. j. G.. Frazer shows, to
tens are OF at least three kinds. There
is, first, the Clan totem, common to
whole clan, and passing by Inheritance
from generation to generation. There
is,second, the Sex totem, common either
to all the males or to all the females
of tribe, to the exclusion of the 9TH
er sex. And there is, third, the Indi-
vidual totem, belonging to single in
dividual, and not passing to his de-
scendants There are also Cross to-
TENS and some other kinds, which,
however, are really only varieties of
the Clan totem, and this last is the
most important of all.
Regarding Clan totemism, it is to be
noted that the relation of mutual help
and protection includes also the to-
tenn ITSELF that is to say, if man
takes care of his totem, he expects the
totem to return the compliment.
If the totem is dangerous animal, it
must not hurt his clans-men. The
Scorpion-men of Senegambia declare
that the most deadly scorpions will
run over their bodies without hurting
them. There is a Snake clan in
Cyprus which holds to a similar be-
lief Among the Moxos, OF Peru, a
candidate for the Office of medicine
man must allow himself to be bitten
by tiger (the totem); and, if he
survives, he proves his kinship and
fitness. Among the Crocodile clan of
the Bechuanas, if man is bitten by
a crocodile, or even has water
splashed on him by one, he is ex-
PEELED from the clan, as one esteemed
unworthy by the totem. But a totem
must do more than not injure-it
must help. Members of Serpent
clans in various parts of the world
profess to heal by their touch those
who have been bitten by serpents.
There is a Seaweed clan in Samoa
which, when it goes out in canoes to
| fight, throws sea-weed into the water
to hinder the flight of the enemy; if
the enemy try to pick up the weed, it
sinks, but rises again as soon as some
of the totem clan approach it. The
kangaroo warns the Kangaroo tribes,
and the crow warns the Crow tribes
of Australia, of approaching danger
This is all very we'll when the totem
is bird, beast, or fish; but one does
not very well see how it will work
when the totem is a stick, stone, a
cloud, an element or color
The totem bond is much stronger
affair than what we regard as the
bond of blood or family. All the
members of totem clan regard each
other as kinsmen, or brothers and
sisters, and are bound to help each
other. The Clan totem represents
both a religious and social system,
because all the men and women who
call themselves by the name OF the
totem believe themselves to be of one
blood, descendants of common an
cestor, and bound to each other by
common obligations and common
faith.
Some of the social aspects OF totem
ism may be briefly referred to- For
one thing, the totem bond is stronger
| than the domestic bond. In every
totem tribe there must be members OF
two or more totem clans, because the
males can not marry the females OF
their own totem. If, then, blood
feud breaks out between their clans,
husband and wife will have to take
opposite sides, and the children will be
arrayed with one parent against the
other. according as the custom of the
people may be to trace descent through
the mother or the father. Then, il
any thing happens to man, all his
clansmen are entitled to satisfaction,
not from the aggressor alone, but
from the entire clan to which the sg.
gressor belongs. A curious illustra-
ton of this has been noted among the
Goajiros OF Columbia in South Ameri
ca. This tribe is divided into some
twenty or thirty clans with descent in
the female line; and it is said that
If a man happens TO cut himself with
b;e own knifa tn fall off his own horse