SOCIAL LIFE AMONG INDIAN TRIBES 23 



Beaver, Toad, and Grizzly Bear. People of the 

 Grizzly Bear clan think that they themselves, 

 also their ancestors, are closely connected with the 

 Bear in some mysterious way. They respect the 

 animal, and apologise to him when it is necessary 

 to kill him in order to get food and clothing. The 

 bear is thought to have a spirit which would haunt 

 the &quot; Bear &quot; clan if the animal were not treated 

 respectfully. Some Indian hunters who will have 

 no respect -for an animal belonging to some other 

 clan, sit by the dead bear, their own totem animal, 

 and smoke the pipe of peace, which implies that 

 there is a good feeling between the hunter and his 

 dead bear, whose spirit will not take revenge. 



In addition to this animal &quot; totem,&quot; which serves 

 as a badge for the clan, a boy always has his own 

 special personal &quot; totem,&quot; which he obtains in the 

 following way. At the age of fourteen he is subject 

 to very harsh treatment, being beaten frequently, 

 and driven to bathe in cold water on winter mornings. 

 Then there is among some tribes a &quot; sweat -bath,&quot; 

 which a boy enters in order to perspire out all his 

 badness, while starvation and solitude in the woods 

 are thought to be necessary before a boy is turned 

 into a man who can have a &quot; totem &quot; animal. It is 

 during this starvation and fasting in the woods that 

 the boy dreams of some animal, or, as he puts it, 

 &quot; the ghost of the animal comes to him while he is 

 asleep,&quot; and the first creature which appears is his 

 &quot; totem,&quot; to whom he prays when in danger and 

 trouble. The youth must rise at once, and after 

 killing one of his &quot; totem &quot; animals, he makes a 

 little bag which is worn like a charm round the 



