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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Totem.jpg|right|frame]]
==Etymology==
Ojibwa oto·te·man his totem
*Date: circa [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Century 1776]
==Definitions==
*1 a : an object (as an [[animal]] or [[plant]]) serving as the [[emblem]] of a [[family]] or [[clan]] and often as a reminder of its [[ancestry]]; also : a usually carved or painted [[representation]] of such an object
:b : a [[family]] or [[clan]] identified by a common totemic object
*2 : one that serves as an emblem or [[revered]] [[symbol]]
==Description==
A '''totem''' is any supposed [[entity]] that watches over or [[assists]] a [[group]] of people, such as a [[family]], [[clan]], or [[tribe]].
Totems support larger [[groups]] than the [[individual]] [[person]]. In kinship and descent, if the apical [[ancestor]] of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem. [[Normally]] this [[belief]] is accompanied by a ''totemic'' [[myth]].
Although the term is of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe Ojibwe] [[origin]] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America North America], totemistic [[beliefs]] are not [[limited]] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas Native Americans]. Similar totem-like beliefs have been historically present in [[societies]] throughout much of the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the Arctic polar region.
In [[modern]] times, some single [[individuals]], not otherwise involved in the [[practice]] of a [[tribal]] [[religion]], have chosen to adopt a [[personal]] [[spirit]] animal helper, which has special [[meaning]] to them, and may refer to this as a totem. This non-traditional usage of the term is prevalent in the [[New Age]] movement, and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythopoetic_men%27s_movement mythopoetic men's movement].
''Totemism'' (derived from the root -oode- in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe_language Ojibwe language], which referred to something kinship-related, c.f. odoodem, "his totem") is a [[religious]] [[belief]] that is frequently [[associated]] with [[shaman]]istic religions. The totem is usually an [[animal]] or other natural figure that [[spiritually]] [[represents]] a [[group]] of related people such as a [[clan]].
Totemism was a key element of [[study]] in the [[development]] of 19th and early 20th century [[theories]] of [[religion]], especially for [[thinkers]] such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Durkheim Émile Durkheim], who [[concentrated]] their [[study]] on [[primitive]] [[societies]] (which was an acceptable description at the time). Drawing on the identification of [[social]] [[group]] with spiritual totem in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_aboriginal Australian aboriginal tribes], Durkheim [[theorized]] that all [[human]] [[religious]] [[expression]] was intrinsically founded in the [[relationship]] to a [[group]].
In his essay "Le Totemisme aujourdhui" (Totemism Today), the anthropologist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss] [[argued]] that [[human]] [[cognition]], which is based on [[analogical]] [[thought]], is [[independent]] of [[social]] [[context]]. From this, he excludes [[mathematical]] thought, which operates primarily through [[logic]]. Totems are chosen [[arbitrarily]] for the sole [[purpose]] of making the [[physical]] world a comprehensive and coherent [[classificatory]] system. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss Lévi-Strauss] argues that the use of [[physical]] [[analogies]] is not an indication of a more [[primitive]] mental capacity. It is rather, a more [[efficient]] way to cope with this particular no mode of life in which abstractions are rare, and in which the [[physical]] [[environment]] is in direct [[friction]] with the [[society]]. He also holds that [[scientific]] explanation entails the [[discovery]] of an "arrangement"; moreover, since "the [[science]] of the concrete" is a [[classificatory]] [[system]] enabling [[individuals]] to classify the world in a [[rational]] [[fashion]], it is neither more nor less a [[science]] than any other in the western world. It is important to recognise that in this [[text]], Lévi-Strauss [[manifests]] the [[egalitarian]] [[nature]] of his work. Lévi-Strauss diverts the theme of [[anthropology]] toward the [[understanding]] of [[human]] [[cognition]].
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss Lévi-Strauss] looked at the ideas of Firth and Fortes, Durkheim, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinowski Malinowski], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans-Pritchard Evans-Pritchard] to reach his conclusions. Firth and Fortes argued that totemism was based on [[physical]] or [[psychological]] similarities between the [[clan]] and the totemic animal. Malinowski proposed that it was based on empirical interest or that the totem was 'good to eat.' In other [[words]], there was [[rational]] interest in preserving the [[species]]. Finally Evans-Pritchard [[argued]] that the reason for totems was [[metaphoric]]. His work with the Nuer led him to believe that totems are a [[symbolic]] [[representation]] of the [[group]]. Lévi-Strauss considered Evan-Pritchard's work the correct explanation.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem]
[[Category: Anthropology]]
==Etymology==
Ojibwa oto·te·man his totem
*Date: circa [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Century 1776]
==Definitions==
*1 a : an object (as an [[animal]] or [[plant]]) serving as the [[emblem]] of a [[family]] or [[clan]] and often as a reminder of its [[ancestry]]; also : a usually carved or painted [[representation]] of such an object
:b : a [[family]] or [[clan]] identified by a common totemic object
*2 : one that serves as an emblem or [[revered]] [[symbol]]
==Description==
A '''totem''' is any supposed [[entity]] that watches over or [[assists]] a [[group]] of people, such as a [[family]], [[clan]], or [[tribe]].
Totems support larger [[groups]] than the [[individual]] [[person]]. In kinship and descent, if the apical [[ancestor]] of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem. [[Normally]] this [[belief]] is accompanied by a ''totemic'' [[myth]].
Although the term is of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe Ojibwe] [[origin]] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America North America], totemistic [[beliefs]] are not [[limited]] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas Native Americans]. Similar totem-like beliefs have been historically present in [[societies]] throughout much of the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the Arctic polar region.
In [[modern]] times, some single [[individuals]], not otherwise involved in the [[practice]] of a [[tribal]] [[religion]], have chosen to adopt a [[personal]] [[spirit]] animal helper, which has special [[meaning]] to them, and may refer to this as a totem. This non-traditional usage of the term is prevalent in the [[New Age]] movement, and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythopoetic_men%27s_movement mythopoetic men's movement].
''Totemism'' (derived from the root -oode- in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe_language Ojibwe language], which referred to something kinship-related, c.f. odoodem, "his totem") is a [[religious]] [[belief]] that is frequently [[associated]] with [[shaman]]istic religions. The totem is usually an [[animal]] or other natural figure that [[spiritually]] [[represents]] a [[group]] of related people such as a [[clan]].
Totemism was a key element of [[study]] in the [[development]] of 19th and early 20th century [[theories]] of [[religion]], especially for [[thinkers]] such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Durkheim Émile Durkheim], who [[concentrated]] their [[study]] on [[primitive]] [[societies]] (which was an acceptable description at the time). Drawing on the identification of [[social]] [[group]] with spiritual totem in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_aboriginal Australian aboriginal tribes], Durkheim [[theorized]] that all [[human]] [[religious]] [[expression]] was intrinsically founded in the [[relationship]] to a [[group]].
In his essay "Le Totemisme aujourdhui" (Totemism Today), the anthropologist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss] [[argued]] that [[human]] [[cognition]], which is based on [[analogical]] [[thought]], is [[independent]] of [[social]] [[context]]. From this, he excludes [[mathematical]] thought, which operates primarily through [[logic]]. Totems are chosen [[arbitrarily]] for the sole [[purpose]] of making the [[physical]] world a comprehensive and coherent [[classificatory]] system. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss Lévi-Strauss] argues that the use of [[physical]] [[analogies]] is not an indication of a more [[primitive]] mental capacity. It is rather, a more [[efficient]] way to cope with this particular no mode of life in which abstractions are rare, and in which the [[physical]] [[environment]] is in direct [[friction]] with the [[society]]. He also holds that [[scientific]] explanation entails the [[discovery]] of an "arrangement"; moreover, since "the [[science]] of the concrete" is a [[classificatory]] [[system]] enabling [[individuals]] to classify the world in a [[rational]] [[fashion]], it is neither more nor less a [[science]] than any other in the western world. It is important to recognise that in this [[text]], Lévi-Strauss [[manifests]] the [[egalitarian]] [[nature]] of his work. Lévi-Strauss diverts the theme of [[anthropology]] toward the [[understanding]] of [[human]] [[cognition]].
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss Lévi-Strauss] looked at the ideas of Firth and Fortes, Durkheim, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinowski Malinowski], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans-Pritchard Evans-Pritchard] to reach his conclusions. Firth and Fortes argued that totemism was based on [[physical]] or [[psychological]] similarities between the [[clan]] and the totemic animal. Malinowski proposed that it was based on empirical interest or that the totem was 'good to eat.' In other [[words]], there was [[rational]] interest in preserving the [[species]]. Finally Evans-Pritchard [[argued]] that the reason for totems was [[metaphoric]]. His work with the Nuer led him to believe that totems are a [[symbolic]] [[representation]] of the [[group]]. Lévi-Strauss considered Evan-Pritchard's work the correct explanation.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem]
[[Category: Anthropology]]
