Totems

“’It is the figurative representations of this plant or animal [on ceremonial objects]…which have the greatest sanctity’, because it is these which provide the tangible expression of the group’s place in society. ’personified and represented to the imagination under the visible form of the [picture of the] animal or vegetable which serves as a totem.’” 

            Totems presence as art is reflected in this statement of Durkheim’s relayed through Layton.  This quote illustrates the importance of artistic totemic representations for small-scale societies that follow totemic religious beliefs.  The symbolism that is present in totemic depictions of animals or plants is a more than just a painting or drawing that is both representative and abstract.  The totem is representative of the people, and their ancestral patterns, that associate with that symbol.  These religious beliefs all have the underlying presence of the group’s ancestry.  It is the connection to the groups past.  It defines how the world unfolded its mysteries to the group defining certain principal and practices to live in a truly positive manner.   

            Totemic religious beliefs play a massive role in small-scale societies; it delineates kinship patterns, a process for resolving disputes between groups, and subsistence patterns. Kinship patterns are reflected in totemic religious views.  One group is expected to produce a husband or wife for the other.  This is the basis for the ancestral patterns that are associated with totemic beliefs.  Once a member from a related group joins another through marriage, they, and all future family members, depending on whether they are male or female, are now a part of that group, or destined to be attached to another associated group.  Totemic beliefs also transcend religion into the realm of law and order.  Totemic beliefs can also develop into a basis for handling disputes between group members.  They involve processes for handling a wide-range of issues, like “property” disputes, issues involving the mate of another group member, or witchcraft.  Symbolic totemic representations can also be related to subsistence.  They can be related to a resource that a group exploits seasonally.  Clearly totemic symbolism is not limited to this concept, there are plenty of other reasons a specific representation is used, and they vary from culture to culture, but it can be related to a specific subsistence pattern.  The presence of symbolism in totemic representations stretches far beyond my analysis, but these are just a few reasons to show how far beyond mere artistic symbolism totemic representation extend.  It is a religious system that encompasses many aspects of life.