The Red Cloud chief., 1889-07-19
T ON TOTEMISM.
0neer Custom OF Unciviltzed
Tribes the World Over.

0meer Custom OF Uncivilize'
Tribes the World Over.
Significance and Uses Of the Totem-Hov
AfNectcd the Tribal Relations Con.
eerning Neutrality-suspicious. -
to Its Religious Origin.
What is a Totem? Broadly, tn
badge Of a clan or tribe. but some
thing signifying a great deal NOR,
than mere political or social alliance
It is not only a tribal emblem, bu
also a family signal; not merely
symbol of nationality, but also an ex
preston of religion; not simply 6
bond of union among primitive PEG.
pies. but also a regulator of the mar.
riage laws and of other social institu'
lions. As defined by Mr.. J. G.
Frazer, a totem Is a "class Of mate.
rial objects which a savage regards
with superstitious respect. believing
that there exits between him and
every member Of the class an intimate
and altogether special relation"
The use of totems seems to have
been first noticed among tho North
American Indians, and the word itself
T. an Indian one. It is taken from the
language Of the Ojibways or Chippe-
ways. q branch Of the Algonquin race,
Vho inhabited the region near Lake
Superior. It is said to have been In.
troduced into our literature by ono
Long. an Indian interpreter. who pub
lisheda book Of travels ip 1871. Among
the American Indians its meaning 10
clear enough; for with them the totems
are we'll defined, although often curl.
Gus in character. Thus. in tho Ojib-
way tribe there are no fewer than
twenty-three different totcms. or clan
divisions. Nine Of these are quadru.
peds, marking out the wolf. tho bear,
the beaver and other clans; eight are
birds. five arc fishes and one IL the
snake. In other words. the members
Of the tribe who carry these devices
by 20 doing mark themselves as b.
longing to q distinct division Of it. to
be for all time and for certain practi-
cal purposes distinguished and sepa-
rate from the other divisions.
Next to the North American Indians,
the aboriginal tribes OF Australia pro-
sent the most developed form Of totem.
ism Of any peoples Of our time. Among
The Australians 10 70 b found tbe same
use Of totems - among tho Indiana
and chiefly taken from the animal
Kingdom. There arc kangaroo. opos-
sum. iguana, emu. bandicoot and black.
snake divisions among the Kamilsroi
tribsa There are also eagle crow.
water, mountain. swamp. river, hot
wind and sun totems; and the first
question asked by IN Australian black
Of . stranger Is: ''Of what murdoo
(family or clan) are you!" In feet,
In Australia the totem seems moro Of
. family than q clan name.
So in Africa, among the Hottentots
and Bechuanas, are found crocodile
men, m~onkey-men, buffalo-men and
such family names as Horse. Lion,
Sheep. Ass. etc. The head Of the fam
lily is the great man. of the animal
whose name he bears, and the men,
beers OF the tribe will not eat the flesh
Dr. Use The skin CT its protecting AMI
NAH
The geographical distribution of to-
temism is very wide. too wide for us
to follow within the limits of this
article. In North America it pre-
walls among all the Indian tribes, but
nos among the Eskimos In Central
America it is found among the tribes
Of Panama; and in South America it is
found in Colombia, Venezuela, Guiana
and Patagonia; and traces also have
been supposed among the aborigines
(not the Incas) Of Peru In Australia
it Is universal-we speak. Of course,
always of aboriginal peoples-and in
Africa it appears to be general in tho
south and west, and on the equator.
It is found alike in Bengal and in ST.
IBERIA, and in Polynesia and China
The Chinese system merits a word;
audit is noteworthy that. on the au-
thosity of a Russian traveller quoted
by Mr.. McLennan. "a characteristic
feature in Central Asiatic traditions is
tha derivation of their origin from
some animal" Thus, the Tele people
ara said to have sprung from the mar
riage Of a wolf ana a beautiful Hun
princess; the Tugas believe themselves
to be descended from a she-wolf; the
T1betans from a dog; tho Mongol
kkans from a blue w6f and a white
hind. etc. The Chinese expression for
thefr " people is PA-Siag, which
means ''the hundred family names"
In'fact it is computed that there are
about four hundred family names in
China. and intermarria.e is forbidden
between persons of To same family
mama. In this connection It may be
noted that on Of the Australian
tribes have a legend to the effect that
the use Of totems WIS introduced BY
command OF the Great Spirit to put a
step to consanguin00us marriages.
Some curious items referring to To-