Another category is (4), "Descent from the Totem." As I have said, the belief in this descent is a mere explanatory myth to account for totemism; and, like all other such myths, could only arise after men were not only totemic, but wondered why they were totemic. Consequently such myths are not of the essence of totemism, and their varieties are of no importance.
The belief, or myth, of totemic descent is absent in British Columbia, says Mr. Goldenweizer, in the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes, and present "among the Kwakiutl and further south." In Central Australia descent from the totem is "universal."
But it is a queer kind of "descent," is not, in the usual sense, descent at all, and, notoriously, is not descent by physical generation.
Then we have the category (7), "Guardian Spirits, intimately associated with Totemism" in British Columbia, "not associated with it in Central Australia." Yet, in Central Australia, a man's spirit is a totemic spirit. Again (10), "Number of Totems." In British Columbia "small," in Central Australia "large." But it is "small" in such central regions of Australia as those of the Dieri and Urabunna, and in South-Eastern Australia; and why it is so large among the Arunta no man knows. It is an unexplained peculiarity, and not essential.
"Reincarnation" (6) is, in British Columbia, "not associated with Totemism," in Central Australia "intimately associated with Totemism." Here, Mr. Strehlow, for the Southern Arunta, reports otherwise; while for the Northern Arunta and other tribes, this "reincarnation" is part of a speculative explanatory myth. The myth, as I can show, explains, at one stroke, how men come to have souls, and why men are totemic We know the kind of savage philosophy which accounts for this category.
I have now remarked on eight out of Mr. Goldenweizer's ten categories of differences between British Columbian and South Australian totemism; all of them, I think, are separable accidents of totemism; and most of them are easily to be accounted for by actual differences of culture, of social conditions, and by variety of savage taste and fancy in making guesses as to why totemists are totemistic.
[9] J. A. F. p. 229. I give the tabular form in this note:
TOTEMISM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
| BRITISH COLUMBIA | CENTRAL AUSTRALIA | |
| Exogamy (1) | Totemic phratries (Tlingit) Totemic clans (Haida, Tsimshian, Northern Kwakiutl) | Phratries Classes Totem Clans (generally not independent exogamous units.) |
| Totemic names (2) | Phratries (Tlingit) Clans (Haida) 1 of 4 clans (Tsimshian) Clans (Northern Kwakiutl) | All totem clans |
| Taboo (3) | Non-totemic taboo, common; totemic absent | Numerous totemic and non-totemic taboos |
| Descent from the totem (4) | Absent (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian) Occurs (Kwakiutl and farther South) | Universal |
| Magical ceremonies (5) | Not associated with totemism | Intimately associated with totemism. |
| Reincarnation (6) | Not associated with totemism | Intimately associated with totemism. |
| Guardian spirits (7) | Intimately associated with totemism | Not associated with totemism |
| Art (8) | Actively associated with totemism | Passively associated with totemism |
| Rank (9) | Conspicious (in individuals and groups) | Absent |
| Number of totems (10) | Small | Large |
[10] Franz Boas, Fifth Report of the Committee on the North-Western Tribes of Canada, p. 32, cited in Totemism and Exogamy, vol. iii. p. 319, note 2; cf. p. 321.