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The Siems are supposed to be descended from a stag, possibly a relic of totemism in this family. In this State there is a large electoral durbar consisting of 2 mantris, 31 lyngdohs, 25 sirdars, 1 lyngskor, and 1 basan. The lyndohs are the heads of the priestly clans, by whom they are chosen.
To illustrate the pre-exogamic stage of human society is not so easy as it may seem; for, though it is possible to find examples, especially amongst Negritos such as the Andamanese or Bushmen, of peoples of the rudest culture, and living in very small communities, who apparently know neither exogamy nor what so often accompanies it, namely, totemism, we can never be certain whether we are dealing in such a case with the genuinely primitive, or merely with the degenerate.
+273+. It is not impossible that totem posts may be connected with original totem trees or other sacred trees. A tree as totem would naturally be the object of some sort of cult, and when it took the form of a post or pole, would have totemic symbols carved on it. In all such cases there is a coalescence of totemism and tree worship.
On the face of it a perfectly crazy and degrading belief on the face of it meant for nothing but to make the family a hell of internecine hatred Totemism rendered possible nay, inevitable the union of hostile groups into large and relatively peaceful tribal societies.
Personal guardians that confer magical powers on a man do not here come into consideration. +574+. The relation between totemism and the practice of magic appears to be essentially one of coexistence in a community. The two belong to the same stage of culture and the same order of ideas; but the fact that each is found without the other shows that neither is dependent on the other.
+575+. Secret societies sometimes perform magical ceremonies; but such societies are not totemic either they have risen above the totemic point of view, or they have sprung from ideas and usages that are independent of totemism proper. +576+. It is difficult to find a clear case of the offering of religious worship to a totem as totem.
They arise from various local and personal peculiarities that, as a rule, have nothing to do with totemism, and they become more prominent and important as the latter declines. +448+. The origin of clan totemic names is closely connected with the origin of the totemic organization, and will be more conveniently considered in connection with this point.
The Ottawas are armigeri, are heraldic; so are the natives of Vancouver's Island, who have wooden pillars with elaborate quarterings. Examples are in South Kensington Museum. But this savage heraldry is not nearly so common as the institution of totemism.
Thus the ideas connected with totemism meet and harmonise in many old countries with those connected with local shrines. Those dwelling around the shrine form a kindred of one blood, of which the local god is both the progenitor and the living head. Religion is thus both strictly tribal and strictly local.
There are myths tracing the totemism of clans to ancestors having animal forms, but these myths are relatively late savage philosophical explanations of existing institutions. +550+. The relation of the individual patron and guardian to the clan totem has been variously defined. Cases in which descent is through the mother here make a difficulty a man's guardian spirit would not then be inherited.
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