Snake River, as we
say, 'An Ettrick man.'] Once more, the name-giving beast, say, 'Great
Hare,' is explained by Dr. Brinton as 'the inevitable Dawn.' {74c} 'Hasty
writers,' remarks Dr. Brinton, 'say that the Indians claim descent from
different wild beasts.' For evidence I refer to that hasty writer, Mr.
Frazer, and his book, Totemism. For a newly sprung up modern totem our
author alludes to a boat, among the Mandans, 'their totem, or tutelary
object of worship.' An object of worship, of course, is not necessarily
a totem! Nor is a totem by the definition (as a rule one of a _class_ of
objects) anything but a _natural_ object. Mr. Max Muller wishes that
'those who write about totems and totemism would tell us exactly what
they mean by these words.' I have told him, and indicated better
sources. I apply the word totemism to the widely diffused savage
institution which I have defined.

More about Totems

The origin of totemism is unknown to me, as to Mr. McLennan and Dr.
Robertson Smith, but Mr. Max Muller knows this origin. 'A totem is a
clan-mark, then a clan-name, then the name of the ancestor of a clan, and
lastly the name of something worshipped by a clan' (i. 201). 'All this
applies in the first instance to Red Indians only.' Yes, and 'clan'
applies in the first instance to the Scottish clans only! When Mr. Max
Muller speaks of 'clans' among the Red Indians, he uses a word whose
connotation differs from anything known to exist in America. But the
analogy between a Scottish clan and an American totem-kin is close enough
to justify Mr. Max Muller in speaking of Red Indian 'clans.' By parity
of reasoning, the analogy between the Australian Kobong and the American
totem is so complete that we may speak of 'Totemism' in Australia. It
would be childish to talk of 'Totemism' in North America, 'Kobongism' in
Australia, 'Pacarissaism' in the realm of the Incas: totems, kobongs, and
pacarissas all amounting to the same thing, except in one point. I am
not aware that Australian blacks erect, or that the subjects of the
Incas, or that African and Indian and Asiatic totemists, erected 'sign-
boards' anywhere, as the Ottawa writer assures us that the Ottawas do, or
used to do. And, if they don't, how do we know that kobongs and
pacarissas were developed out of sign-boards?

Heraldry and Totems

The Ottawas are armigeri, are heraldic; so are the natives of Vancouver's
Island, who have wooden pilla