Plainly to call his tribe 'The Wayfarers' or 'The Pioneers' or the 'Pacifists' or the 'Invincibles,' or by any of the thousand and one names which modern associations adopt, would have been impossible, since such abstract terms had little or no existence in his mind. (1) The fact that the Tribe was one of the early things for which Man found it necessary to have a name is interesting, because it shows how early the solidarity and psychological actuality of the tribe was recognized and as to the selection of a name from some animal or concrete object of Nature, that was inevitable, for the simple reason that there was nothing else for the savage to choose from. It may be worth while to pause for a moment over these. The first is to understand why primitive Man should name his Tribe after an animal or object of nature at all the second, to understand on what principle he selected the particular name (a lion, a crocodile, a lady bird, a certain tree) the third, why he should make of the said totem a divinity, and pay honor and worship to it.

A careful study has been made of it by Salamon Reinach in his Cultes, Mythes et Religions, 1 where he formulates his conclusions in twelve statements or definitions but even so-though his suggestions are helpful-he throws very little light on the real origin of the system. Much has been written on the origin of the Totem-system-the system, that is, of naming a tribe or a portion of a tribe (say a clan) after some animal-or sometimes-also after some plant or tree or Nature-element, like fire or rain or thunder but at best the subject is a difficult one for us moderns to understand. Sacred Texts Classics Index Previous Next

Praey for the gods totems