Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/416

 yj^ Totemism in the Evolution of Religion.

think, against the theory of totemism which Professor Tylor himself is inclined to adopt, namely that the soul of a man, at death, migrates into some animal, which then becomes totem and taboo to his descendants ; for a man's children do not belong to his totem-clan but to their mother's, and thus are at liberty to kill his totem-animal and make things uncomfortable for his migrated soul, I suggest, therefore, that though I, being a totemist, am theoretically at liberty to kill my father's totem-animal, or my wife's, still, as a matter of fact and for reasons which I sum up in the phrase "for the sake of peace and quietness," I usually abstain from thus provoking parental castigation or marital disagreements — especially if I have several wives. In fine, it must not be forgotten, though Professor Tylor and M. Marillier seem to forget, that though I may at my own risk kill another man's totem, the totem's clan are entitled to claim compensation, and will certainly exact vengeance from me. The protection thus afforded by the clan-taboo and the public opinion of the tribe is, I submit, all that is required for the domestication of any domesticable animal.

Important economically as is the domestication of animals, it is a step which has not been universally taken — there are savages still which possess no domestic animals. What then is the reason, especially if totemism, as a social insti- tution, has been universal ? The reason is simple : not all species of animals are capable of domestication. Where there were no domesticable animals, there no animals could be domesticated, and man consequently never got beyond the stage of totemism. There are two areas of the earth's surface in which no domesticable species occur : North America and Australia. And they are precisely the two areas in which totemism prevailed until the coming of European man. It is to them, therefore, that we must look, if we wish to understand the condition of man in the pre-pastoral period — in the time when he had not yet