As in Australia, the belief in common kin with beasts is most
clearly proved by the construction of Red Indian society. The
"totemistic" stage of thought and manners prevails. Thus
Charlevoix says,[1] "Plusieurs nations ont chacune trois familles
ou tribus principales, AUSSI ANCIENNES, A CE QU'IL PAROIT, QUE LEUR
ORIGINE. Chaque tribu porte le nom d'un animal, et la nation
entiere a aussi le sien, dont elle prend le nom, et dont la figure
est sa marque, ou, se l'on veut, ses armoiries, on ne signe point
autrement les traites qu'en traceant ces figures." Among the
animal totems Charlevoix notices porcupine, bear, wolf and turtle.
The armoiries, the totemistic heraldry of the peoples of Virginia,
greatly interested a heraldic ancestor of Gibbon the historian,[2]
who settled in the colony. According to Schoolcraft,[3] the totem
or family badge, of a dead warrior is drawn in a reverse position
on his grave-post. In the same way the leopards of England are
drawn reversed on the shield of an English king opposite the
mention of his death in old monkish chronicles. As a general
rule,[4] persons bearing the same totem in America cannot
intermarry. "The union must be between various totems." Moreover,
as in the case of the Australians, "the descent of the chief is in
the female line". We thus find among the Red Men precisely the
same totemistic regulations as among the Aborigines of Australia.
Like the Australians, the Red Men "never" (perhaps we should read
"hardly ever") eat their totems. Totemists, in short, spare the
beasts that are their own kith and kin. To avoid multiplying
details which all corroborate each other, it may suffice to refer
to Schoolcraft for totemism among the Iowas[5] and the Pueblos;[6]
for the Iroquois, to Lafitau, a missionary of the early part of the