totem

A totem is a natural object, animal, or plant that serves as a symbol or emblem for a person, lineage, clan, or community. In anthropology, a totemic system links individuals or groups to a totem, typically through a claimed kinship with the being or element, which may provide moral, social, or ceremonial guidance. The term derives from the Ojibwe odoodem, meaning “his/her kinship group,” and entered scholarly use in the 18th–19th centuries.

In the Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, totem poles are major expressions of totemic identity. They function as genealogies and property markers, depicting ancestral beings, clan crests, and historic events. Clans may trace their status and rights to resources through pole imagery.

Among some Australian Aboriginal groups, as well as certain Melanesian and other cultures, totemic relationships link kinship, marriage rules, and ceremonial life; totems may be animals, plants, or other natural phenomena. In these contexts, a totem may be inherited, adopted, or redistributed through social mechanisms, with rules about who may hunt or harvest related to the totem.

Outside traditional settings, the term totem is used more broadly to denote symbolic emblems. Some scholars caution against overgeneralizing or essentializing: totemism is diverse, and not all Indigenous groups identify with the term or its western analytical framework. Contemporary discussions emphasize respectful representation and the complex meanings of totemic systems within their cultural contexts.