Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/415

 The Origin of Totem Names and Beliefs. 391^

have some natural product which was its special charge, of which the members of that group would naturally know more than anybody else, and which they would continue to increase (as they thought) by means of magical ceremonies. But although man, doubtless, very early performed magic for the increase of his food, I am of opinion it cannot strictly be termed a "primitive" custom. I venture to think that the sympathetic relationship of a group of men with a group of living beings was yet earlier.

Now as to the question of naming. In restricted localities the possible varieties of food were also restricted, and the men and the food became associated in name. The men who constantly caught crabs would naturally be called the " crab-men." Those whose speciality it was to catch kangaroos or turtle, or to collect coco-nuts, would be known, and would most probably regard themselves as kangaroo- men, or turtle-men, or coco-nut-men. A man who had a lot of wild plums and wanted a little fish-diet would say, " We will go to the crab-men and exchange our plums for their crabs." So the names would arise naturally, and myths as to their origin would spring up as a matter of course. I suspect that hunger is really at the bottom of totemism, though naturally other elements have entered into it at various times. I should know more than I do about totemism, as I happen to be a " crocodile " myself!

Mr. GOMME : It appears to me that a great deal too much stress has been laid on the after-results of totemism. The myth-making period is of course long after the origin of totemism, and in studying its origin we must remember that not only Australians and North Americans, but African and Asiatic peoples have totem beliefs and ideas. The mere existence of such beliefs and ideas does not constitute totemism. They are almost universal, but they have been taken up into a social system among a few tribes only. That such a social system could have been framed on the mere custom of naughty boys calling each other nicknames seems to me a theory which can hardly be accepted. In no totem system with which I am acquainted do I come across one whole group of people so separated from other groups and called by a separate orroup-name, as to make such a theory possible. My own Tdea would rather be to take first such groups as are not totemists at all, to discover what totem beliefs and ideas exist among them, to compare