Totem Eng

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Totem

• A system of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or a mystical relationship with a
spirit-being, such as an animal or plant.

• The term totem is derived from the Ojibwa word ototeman, meaning “one’s brother-sister kin.”

– The grammatical root, ote, signifies a blood relationship between brothers and sisters
who have the same mother and who may not marry each other.

• The entity, or totem, is thought to interact with a given kin group or an individual and to serve
as their emblem or symbol.

• A totem pole on which totems are hung or on which the images of totems are carved is central
to totemic practices.

• At the heart of this belief system is fear or awe for the unseen forces of the nature.

• Such unexplained forces are believed to be either beneficial or harmful. Therefore through
worship, the clan or tribe tried to satisfy the totem.

• In turn the totem, if pleased, will bless the group .

– Or else the group may fall onto the totem’s wrath.

• The term totemism has been used to characterize a cluster of traits in the religion and in the
social organization of many peoples such as a tribe or a clan.

• Totemism is manifested in various forms and types in different contexts and is most often found
among populations whose traditional economies relied on hunting and gathering, mixed farming
with hunting and gathering, or emphasized the raising of cattle.

• Totem is part of tribal culture but are assimilated to belief systems of the folk, rural and urban
cultures.

• Often the totem is represented by a sculptural work known as the ‘Totem Pole’.

• In India, the Bonobibi of Sundarbans, or Snake of Manasa, horses of Bankura or elephants of


Panchmura are all instances of totem.

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