A religious system based on spiritual relationships between human groups and natural objects, animals, or phenomena considered ancestral or protective spirits. Totemic societies organize social identity around these sacred connections.
From Ojibwe 'ototeman' (his totem/kinship group) via French explorers. The concept was systematized by anthropologists in the 19th century to describe kinship-based spiritual systems found worldwide.
Totemism reveals humanity's ancient understanding that we're part of nature's family tree, not separate from it! Australian Aboriginal dreamtime stories and Native American clan animals show how cultures used totemic relationships to organize both social structure and environmental knowledge.
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