STUDY FROM THE OMAHA TRIBE: IMPORT OF THE TOTEM. 583 



I light be at once recognized by their kindred, and not wander as they 

 assed into the spirit world. 



Office of the totem in the gens. — In the early struggle for existence the 

 vantages accruing from a permanent kinship group, both in resisting 

 agression and in securing a food supply, could not tail to have been 

 '.rceived; and, if the people were to become homogeneous and the 

 ^ctice of exogomy continue, some expedient must have been devised 

 bj which permanent groups could be maintained and kinship lines be 

 defined. The common belief of the people, kept virile by the universal 

 'ce of the rite of the vision, furnished this expedient — a device 

 Wii ^xi could be understood and accepted by all — the concrete sign of 

 the vision, the totem of the leader, he whose abilities and prowess 

 evinced supernatural favor, and won for his followers success and plenty. 

 From a study of the minutiie of the customs and ceremonies within 

 the gens, it is apparent that their underlying purpose was to impress 

 upon the people the knowledge and the duties of kindred, and that one 

 of the most important of these duties was the maintenance of the union 

 ■ the gens. This union of kindred we find to have been guarded by 

 the agency of the totem. The name of the gens, the personal names of 

 its members, and the practice of tabu — obligatory upon all persons, 

 excei)t tho hereditary chiefs, while they were officiating in the gentile 

 rites pertaining to the totem — indicate a common allegiance to a super- 

 natural presence believed to preside over the gens by virtue of its 

 relation to the common ancestor. These rites did not imply ancestor 

 worship, but were a recognition of the special power represented by the 

 totem. We also find that the gentile totem and its rites did not interfere 

 with a man's freedom in seeking his personal totem, nor of his use of it 

 when desiring help from the mysterious powers. The gentile totem 

 gave no immediate hold upon the supernatural, as did the individual 

 totem to its possessor ; outside the rites already referred to, it served 

 solely as a mark of kinship, and its connection with the supernatural 

 was manifest only in its punishment of the violation of tabu. Briefly 

 stated, the inculcation of the gentile totem was that the individual 

 belonged to a definite kinship group, from wliich he could never sever 

 himself without incurring supernatural punishment. 



Social growth depended upon the establishment of distinct groups, 

 and the one power adequate for the purpose was that which was 

 believed to be capable of enforcing the union of the people by super- 

 naturally inflicted penalties. The constructive influence of the totem 

 is apparent in the unification of the Ton'-won-gdhon or gens, without 

 which the organization of the tribe would have been impossible. 



The influence of the religious societies upon the gens. — In the religious 

 societies the people were made familiar with the idea that a common 

 vision could create a sort of brotherhood. This fraternity was recog- 

 nized and expressed by the observance of rites and ceremonies — in 

 which all the members took part — setting forth the peculiar j)ower of 



