Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-05-02

| IL appeared On some part OF MS per-
son; and if he ate it, it grew on his
nose. If Banana-man used banana
leaf for g cap, he became bald. If g
Buttertly-man caught a butterfly, il
struck him dead. If a Fowl-man ate q
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 a fetch, as we'll as the signif.
canoe of a 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 a
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 a 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 a man
takes care of his totem, he expects the
totem to return the compliment.
If the totem is a 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 10 Snake clan in
Cyprus which holds to 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 a man is bitten by
q 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 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 we'll see how it will work
when the totem is a stick, stone, a
cloud, an element, or color.
The totem bond is a much stronger
affair than what we regard as the
bond of blood or family. ALI 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 a 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
csstor, 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. if
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 ag-
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 man happens 10 cut himself with
his own knife, to fall OF his own horse,
or to hurt himself in any way. his
mothers clan immediately demand
blood-money from him for injuring one
Of their totems!
Then. as to marriage, persons Of the
same totem may not enter into conjugal
union. This rule IL what Il called
exogamy. Some tribes say Of those
Who marry within the clan. that their
bones will drv nm and thew vrSll 6ie