Social anthropologists have produced rich literature on totemism. Among the African tribes totems are very widely found. Each clan organization bears the names of animals and plants. This mode of designating a clan is often coupled with beliefs and practices revolving round the eponym.
Sometimes, the animal is held sacred and there is a strong sense of kinship with it on the part of the clan. Elsewhere groups are not named after plants or animals but are nevertheless definitely associated with them.
Frequently, there is a belief in the descent of the clan from the eponym. All these and similar usages are brought together under the head of totemism and the animal plant or object in question is called a totem.
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Totemism has a very wide distribution among the tribals. It is found in America, Australia, Melanesia, Africa and India.
“This extensive diffusion deeply impressed the scholars who first investigated the relevant data, and following the theoretical bias of their times, they assumed without further enquiry that all the phenomena labeled totemism represented identical psychological processes and had originated independently in different areas through the psychic unity of mankind.” It appears that totemism has developed from the practice of animal nicknames.
Lowie has traced the origin and development of totemism. He says that it was for the first time that Goldenweiser in 1910 approached totemism from a quite different point of view. He was followed by Boas.
These anthropologists argued that totemism all over the primitive world are not alike. It differs substantially. For example, in Central Australia, totemism does not focus on animals.
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It emphasizes ritualistic performances. It helps enhance the magic power of a person. Goldenweiser also borrows from J.G. Frazer. His conclusion is that totemism is not associated with exogamy.
Some anthropologists have worked very elaborately on the theme of totemism. For one thing, all agree that totemic ties keep the people of a group united. It is a part of kinship relationship.
In family there is a biological and socio-cultural relationship among the members; in lineage there is a linkage with the ancestors; clan consists of lineages and totem keeps the people held together by an object which the people consider as their common and shared identity.
Totemism binds the people on the basis of some animal, plant and tree. The observance of the totemic rules is not based on biological origin. It is social and cultural.
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In a precise way totem is different from .flan but it forms a part of clan. In Indian social anthropology some work has been done in totemism. For instance, among the Kharias, there are about ten exogamous totemic clans.
Similarly, among the Kamars, there are a large number of exogamous clans. Each clan has its own totems. Normally, totems are operative only the in the realm of marriage. Clan, on the other hand, has comprehensive social and cultural functions. The Kamars have totems in the name of tiger, serpent, goat, birds, etc.
Totemism in India has come as a tradition of British social anthropology. In Britain and other parts of Europe, totemism developed through Goldenweiser and Frazer. In England, Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown worked considerably to develop the theme of totemism. For instance, Malinowski has written extensively on totemism which is found in Trobriand Islands.
These primitives believed that totemic plants and animals are helpful for the maintenance of society. Radcliffe-Brown developed a more complex view of totemism.
Borrowing from Durkheim, he says that totem causes a special relationship between it and the social order and the ultimate function of totemism is to maintain social integration.
The totem is, thus, a tangible identity marker for a group. Durkheim himself mentions flag as a kind of totem. Similarly, defining totem, Jacob and Stern write:
An animal associated with a clan is a totem. Its flesh is tabooed by the clan members. The clan members believe themselves descended from the animal and they conduct rites for it.
Some writers give broader definitions allowing for plant or other beings as clan totems, or for any zoomorphic supernatural powers as totems even if unconnected with clans. The beliefs and practices connected with totems are called totemism.