26 
MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 10. 
with the same powers of the primordial “beings.” This con- 
ception of the animal-human archetype must not be regarded 
as at all flavouring of a philosophy, developed after contact 
with Europeans. The error that has always been committed 
in discussions as to the nature of descent from the animal lies 
in confusing our concept of animal species with the term “animal” 
as used by primitive people, and also in lack of discrimination 
between the possible connotations of that same term, as applied 
to animals of to-day and those animals which are brought into 
intimate contact with the clan ancestor. 
There is no reason for regarding the specific descent from 
the totem as a transformation of this Winnebago idea of the 
origin of human and animal forms. The latter conception is 
entirely a religious one, whereas the former is merely an extension 
of the genealogical tendency prevalent in many types of social 
organization. Instead of being merely descended from an 
individual in a given social unit, the bond of membership within 
this unit has been strengthened by the postulation of blood 
relationship to the clan animal. Descent may thus be looked 
upon as one of the elements necessary for the stability of a 
political unit, and is far older than its specific extension to those 
clan animals. A very illuminating example of a case in point 
can be selected from the history of the war bundle in the Thunder- 
bird clan. This bundle, like the others, was obtained as a gift 
from the thunderbird in his capacity as a guardian spirit. The 
Winter Feast has, however, been markedly influenced by the 
clan organization and as a result, we find descent from the 
thunderbird and night spirit, the two most important spirits 
in the ceremony, postulated of the original owner of the war 
bundle. The same tendency is exhibited in the numerous 
stories of the connexion of an individual of the heroic age with 
a village. Here the individual, generally a transformed guardian 
spirit or animal, comes to the aid of the people in their struggle 
against cannibals, defeats the latter, and marries into the village, 
becoming the ancestor of the subsequent village group. 
At the same time no strong correlation apparently exists 
between a totemic organization and the extension of descent to 
include the clan animal, for this seems to be a peculiarity of 
