[hili.-tout] T0TEM1S]\I : IT.S ORIGIN AND IMPORT 81 



characterize any theory that claims to be regarded as the true explana- 

 tion of totem haibits and practices, viz., universal application. 



We need not, then, further consider this theory, plausible as it cer- 

 tainly is, but return to Dr. Frazer's later hypothesis based on the Canon 

 of Provinder. Let us bow see what these Intichiuma ceremonies are 

 and in: what respect they differ from analogous ceremonies in this 

 country. 



According to Dr. Frazer and the authors of " The Native Tribes of 

 Central Australia/' they are magic rites which have for their object the 

 increase of the totem animal or plant. Each clan is regarded as posses- 

 sing direct control over the animal or plant whose name it bears; and 

 this control is exercised for the express purpose of increasing the neces- 

 saries of life. ' 



Thus for example, 'Svhen men of the emu totem desire to multiply 

 emus they set about it as follows : Several of the men open veins in 

 their arms and allow the blood to stream on the ground till 'a patch' 

 about three yards square is saturated with it. When the blood is dry it 

 forms a hard surface, on which the men of the totem paint in white, red, 

 yellow and black, a design intended to represent various parts of the 

 emu, such as the fat, of which the natives are very fond, the eggi in 

 various stages of development, the intestines and the liver. Further, 

 several men of the totem acting the part of ancestors of the emu clan, 

 dress themselves up to resemble emus and imitate the movements and 

 aimless gazing about of the bird; on their heads are fastened sacred 

 sticks about four feet long and tipped with emu feathers, to represent 

 the long neck and small head of the emu. 



There is no need to cite further examples. The ceremonies of other 

 clan-groups are all similar in character though they may differ in detail 

 from that described. Now those familiar with the " rituals" of Ameri- 

 can tribes will see in these Australian ceremonies practices analogous to 

 those found in this country. The elaborate Salmon ceremonies of the 

 Pacific Coast tribes, for example, are parallel performances, and like the 

 Intichiuma, are carried out expressly for the purpose of securing a good 

 " run " of salmon. The wild rice ceremonies or rituals of the Menomini 

 or wild-rice people, the Eskimo deer ceremonies, the maize or corn cere- 

 monies, the rain and hunt rituals of the Sia and Zunis, all have the same 

 object, the increase of the necessaries of life. That the several totem 

 groups should perform the ceremonies connected with their own totem 

 object is exactly what we ought to find under the view of totemism here 

 taken. We find the same division of ritual and privilege among Ameri- 

 can tribes, though not everywhere so strongly developed and systematized 

 perhaps as they are reported to be among the Central Australian peoples. 



Sec. II., 1903. 6. 



