Totems

<p style=" margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People" title="People" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">people</a>, such as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family" title="Family" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">family</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan" title="Clan" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">clan</a>, group, lineage, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe" title="Tribe" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">tribe</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem#cite_note-0" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[1]</a>

Totems support larger groups than the individual person.

In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinship_and_descent" title="Kinship and descent" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">kinship and descent</a>, if the <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apical_ancestor" class="extiw" title="wikt:apical ancestor" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">apical ancestor</a> of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem. Normally this belief is accompanied by a totemic myth.

Although the term is of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe" title="Ojibwe" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ojibwe</a> origin in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America" title="North America" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">North America</a>, totemistic beliefs are not limited to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas" title="Indigenous peoples of the Americas" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Native Americans</a>.

Similar totem-like beliefs have been historically present in societies throughout much of the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the Arctic polar region.

In modern times, some single individuals, not otherwise involved in the practice of a tribal religion, 

have chosen to adopt a personal spirit animal helper, which has special meaning to them, and may refer to this as a totem. This non-traditional usage of the term is prevalent in the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age" title="New Age" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">New Age</a> movement and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythopoetic_men%27s_movement" title="Mythopoetic men's movement" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">mythopoetic men's movement</a>.

Personal Totem of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohegan" title="Mohegan" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Mohegan</a> Chief <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantaquidgeon&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tantaquidgeon (page does not exist)" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Tantaquidgeon</a>, commemorated on a plaque at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich,_Connecticut" title="Norwich, Connecticut" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Norwich, Connecticut</a>.</div>

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Totemism (derived from the root -oode- in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe_language" title="Ojibwe language" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ojibwe language</a>, which referred to something kinship-related, c.f. o<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doodem" title="Doodem" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">doodem</a>, "his totem") is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion" title="Religion" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">religious</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief" title="Belief" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">belief</a> that is frequently associated with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism" title="Shamanism" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">shamanistic</a> religions. The totem is usually an animal or other natural figure that spiritually represents a group of related people such as a clan.

Totemism was a key element of study in the development of 19th and early 20th century theories of religion, especially for thinkers such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Durkheim" title="Émile Durkheim" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Émile Durkheim</a>, who concentrated their study on primitive societies. Drawing on the identification of social group with spiritual totem in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_aboriginal" title="Australian aboriginal" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Australian aboriginal</a> tribes, Durkheim theorized that all human religious expression was intrinsically founded in the relationship to a group.

In his essay "Le Totemisme aujourdhui" (Totemism Today), the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropologist" title="Anthropologist" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">anthropologist</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_L%C3%A9vi-Strauss" title="Claude Lévi-Strauss" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Claude Lévi-Strauss</a> argued that human cognition, which is based on analogical thought, is independent of social context. From this, he excludes mathematical thought, which operates primarily through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic" title="Logic" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">logic</a>. Totems are chosen arbitrarily for the sole purpose of making the physical world a comprehensive and coherent classificatory system. Lévi-Strauss argues that the use of physical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy" title="Analogy" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">analogies</a> is not an indication of a more primitive mental capacity. It is rather, a more efficient way to cope with this particular mode of life in which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction" title="Abstraction" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">abstractions</a> are rare, and in which the physical environment is in direct friction with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society" title="Society" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">society</a>. He also holds that scientific explanation entails the discovery of an "arrangement"; moreover, since "the science of the concrete" is a classificatory system enabling individuals to classify the world in a rational fashion, it is neither more nor less a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science" title="Science" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">science</a> than any other in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world" title="Western world" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">western world</a>. It is important to recognise that in this text, Lévi-Strauss manifests the egalitarian nature of his work. Lévi-Strauss diverts the theme of anthropology toward the understanding of human <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition" title="Cognition" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">cognition</a>.

Cultural flag of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanak" title="Kanak" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Kanak</a> community, showing a flèche faîtière - a spear-like wooden totem monument placed atop Kanak traditional dwellings.</div>

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Lévi-Strauss looked at the ideas of Firth and Fortes, Durkheim, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronis%C5%82aw_Malinowski" title="Bronisław Malinowski" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Malinowski</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans-Pritchard" title="Evans-Pritchard" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Evans-Pritchard</a> to reach his conclusions. Firth and Fortes argued that totemism was based on physical or psychological similarities between the clan and the totemic animal. Malinowski proposed that it was based on empirical interest or that the totem was 'good to eat.' In other words, there was rational interest in preserving the species. Finally Evans-Pritchard argued that the reason for totems was metaphoric. His work with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuer_people" title="Nuer people" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Nuer</a> led him to believe that totems are a symbolic representation of the group. Lévi-Strauss considered Evan-Pritchard's work the correct explanation.

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Native North American Totems" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]Native North American Totems</h2>

Not including the totem pole, many Native North American tribes had or have traditions providing every person with nine different animals that will accompany them throughout life. These animals act as guides, surfacing in our lives depending on where we head and what we need at a given moment. One of those animals in particular is said to be your "totem animal;" it is the animal that is with you for life, both in the physical and spiritual world. Many people have a variety of different animal spirits but their "totem animal" is their main guide through life. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem#cite_note-1" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[2]</a>

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: North American totem poles" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]North American totem poles</h2>

<div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle" style=" font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole" title="Totem pole" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Totem pole</a></div>

A totem pole in Thunderbird Park,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria,_British_Columbia" title="Victoria, British Columbia" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Victoria, British Columbia</a></div>

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The mis-named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole" title="Totem pole" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">totem poles</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest" title="Pacific Northwest" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Pacific Northwest</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America" title="North America" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">North America</a> are, in fact, not totemic in nature. Rather, they are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry" title="Heraldry" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">heraldic</a>. They feature many different designs (bears, birds, frogs, people, and various supernatural beings and aquatic creatures) that function as crests of families or chiefs. They recount stories owned by those families or chiefs, and/or commemorate special occasions.

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Possibly totemic culture in ancient China" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]Possibly totemic culture in ancient China</h2>

The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanxingdui" title="Sanxingdui" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Sanxingdui</a> Culture in southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">China</a>, dating back more than 5000 years, possibly placed bronze and gold heads on totems. Chinese transliterates totem as tuteng (圖騰). Sanxingdui bronze masks and heads (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_date" title="Radiocarbon date" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">radiocarbon dated</a>circa 1200BCE) appear to have been mounted on wooden poles. Some scholars have suggested that totemic culture spread from ancient <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_people" title="Asian people" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Asian</a> populations to the rest of the world. Others conclude that totemism arose separately in numerous cultures; totemic cultures in North America are estimated to have been more than 10,000 years old.

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Korean JangSeung" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]Korean JangSeung</h2>

A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jangseung" title="Jangseung" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Jangseung</a> or village guardian is a Korean totem pole usually made of wood. Jangseungs were traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark for village boundaries and frighten away demons or welcome people in. They were also worshipped as village tutelary deities. JangSeungs were usually carved in the images of Janguns (equivalent to Admirals or Generals) and their wives. Many JangSeungs are also depicted laughing but in a frightening way. Many of the villages felt that the frightening laughter of the JangSeungs would frighten away the demons because the JangSeungs have no fear.

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Totem beads in the Himalayan region" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]Totem beads in the Himalayan region</h2>

In the Himalayan region as well as on the whole Tibetan plateau area and adjacent areas, certain beaded jewelry is believed to have totemistic capabilities. Tibetans in particular give much importance to heirloom beads such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzi_bead" title="Dzi bead" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">dzi beads</a>. Though dzi beads were not produced in ancient Tibet, but by an unknown culture, most ancient dzi beads are owned by Tibetans. Different protective qualities depend on design, number of eyes, damage, color, shine, etc.

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: The ancient Polish rodnidze" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]The ancient Polish rodnidze</h2>

The rodnidze known among the pre-Christian ancestors of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles" title="Poles" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Poles</a> is considered to have been roughly similar to the totem as mentioned above. In historical times, scholars considered that the animals and birds represented on the coats-of-arms of various Polish aristocratic clans may have been remnants of such totems (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Alepowron_coat_of_arms" title="Ślepowron coat of arms" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ślepowron coat of arms</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korwin_coat_of_arms" title="Korwin coat of arms" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Korwin coat of arms</a>, possible remnants of a raven-rodnidze).

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_worship" title="Animal worship" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Animal worship</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism" title="Animism" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Animism</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anishinaabe_clan_system" title="Anishinaabe clan system" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Anishinaabe clan system</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aumakua" title="Aumakua" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Aumakua</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_Mundi" title="Axis Mundi" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Axis Mundi</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_(heraldry)" title="Charge (heraldry)" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Charge (heraldry)</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devak" title="Devak" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Devak</a>, a type of family totem in Maratha culture</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fylgja" title="Fylgja" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Fylgja</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jangseung" title="Jangseung" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Jangseung</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moiety_(kinship)" title="Moiety (kinship)" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Moiety</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_worship" title="Nature worship" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Nature worship</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamga" title="Tamga" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Tamga</a>, an abstract seal or device used by Eurasian nomadic peoples</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_and_Taboo" title="Totem and Taboo" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Totem and Taboo</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud" title="Sigmund Freud" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Sigmund Freud</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vahana" title="Vahana" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Vahana</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_totemization" title="Wildlife totemization" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Wildlife totemization</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: References" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]References</h2>

<li id="cite_note-0" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem#cite_ref-0" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.webster.com/dictionary/totem" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary</a> and Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem#cite_ref-1" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">^</a> Unknown, Unknown. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-totems.html" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Legends of North America"</a>. "Native American Legends". Legends of America.com. Retrieved 04/03/2011.</li>

</ol>

</div>

<h2 style=" color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.6em; margin-left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); width: auto; font-size: 19px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totem&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: External links" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]External links</h2>

<tr>

<td class="mbox-text" style=" border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; padding-top: 0.25em; padding-right: 0.9em; padding-bottom: 0.25em; padding-left: 0.9em; width: 170px;">Wikimedia Commons has media related to: <a class="external text" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Totem_poles" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAAAFZJREFUeF59z4EJADEIQ1F36k7u5E7ZKXeUQPACJ3wK7UNokVxVk9kHnQH7bY9hbDyDhNXgjpRLqFlo4M2GgfyJHhjq8V4agfrgPQX3JtJQGbofmCHgA/nAKks+JAjFAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 13px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Totem poles</a></td>

</tr>

</tbody></table>

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