nd eat
the totem. The Ottawas (of Canada) and the combined Sauks and Foxes (of
the Mississippi Valley) had traditions of descent from the totem. The
Menomini (of the same region) would kill the totem, but always with an
apology to it; their myths embody varying conceptions of the relation of
eponymous animals to clans: sometimes the origin of a clan is referred
to the action of a supernatural being who changed a bear, for example,
into a man, or to adventures of animals; sometimes eponymous birds
(eagle and hawk) are described as being spirits or deities. Such
introduction of supernatural beings involves a deviation from the
conception of the eponymous animal as independent creator of a
clan.[846]

+493+. For the tribes bordering on the Gulf of Mexico no signs have
been preserved of an organization based on the relation between clans
and eponymous animals, plants, and other objects. The great Maskoki
stock (including Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasas, and some other
less important tribes) had a well-formed political system, and their
religion was represented by the Chief Magician or Priest (Medicine Man).
They performed magical ceremonies for increase of food, but these were
tribal, and the Creek annual fast (_puskita_, busk) had high religious
and ethical significance.[847]

+494+. The Caddoan group, dwelling formerly west of the Mississippi, in
Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, had an approach to specific totemism. In
the Caddo tribe clansmen refrained from killing the eponymous animal;
but all members of the tribe refrained from killing eagles and panthers.
Whether this custom represents former clan restrictions is uncertain.
For the related Skidi Pawnee (who formerly dwelt in the Nebraska region)
there is evidence, from folk-tales, of a belief in the origin of clans
from marriages between human beings and animals, and of belief that
through such marriages benefits accrued to the people. But such beliefs
appear not to have affected the Pawnee social organization.[848]

+495+. The Nakchi (Natchez) people (of the lower Mississippi Valley)
dwelt in villages that had such names as "pond-lily people," "hickory
people," "swan people," "forest people." These are possibly survivals of
totemic names, but there is no account of the existence of totemic
groups among them. On the other hand, they had a highly developed
sun-worship, with human sacrifices.

+496+. Customs in the Siouan stock vary. In the Dakota tribe there