[23] I am uncertain as to this point among the Urabunna, as will appear later.
[CHAPTER II]
METHOD OF INQUIRY
Method of inquiry—Errors to be avoided—Origin of totemism not to be looked for among the "sports" of socially advanced tribes—Nor among tribes of male reckoning of descent—Nor in the myths explanatory of origin of totemism—Myths of origin of heraldic bearings compared—Tribes in state of ancestor-worship: their totemic myths cannot be true—Case of Bantu myths (African)—Their myth implies ancestor-worship —Another African myth derives tribal totems from tribal nicknames—No totemic myths are of any historic value—The use of conjecture—Every theory must start from conjecture—Two possible conjectures as to earliest men gregarious (the horde), or lonely sire, female mates, and off-spring—Five possible conjectures as to the animal names of kinships in relation to early society and exogamy—Theory of the author; of Professor Spencer; of Dr. Durkheim; of Mr. Hill-Tout; of Mr. Howitt—Note on McLennan's theory of exogamy.
We have now given the essential facts in the problem of early society as it exists in various forms among the most isolated and pristine peoples extant. It has been shown that the sets of seniority (classes), the exogamous moieties (phratries), and the kinships in each tribe bear names which, when translated, are usually found to denote animals. Especially the names of the totem kindreds, and of the totems, are commonly names of animals or plants. If we can discover why this is so, we are near the discovery of the origin of totemism. Meanwhile we offer some remarks as to the method to be pursued in the search for a theory which will colligate all the facts in the case, and explain the origin of totemic society. In the first place certain needful warnings must be given, certain reefs which usually wreck efforts to construct a satisfactory hypothesis must be marked.
First, it will be vain to look for the origin of totemism either among advanced and therefore non-pristine Australian types of tribal organisation, or among peoples not Australian, who are infinitely more forward than the Australians in the arts of life, and in the possession of property. Such progressive peoples may present many interesting social phenomena, but, as regards pure primitive totemism, they dwell on "fragments of a broken world." The totemic fragments, among them, are twisted and shattered strata, with fantastic features which cannot be primordial, but are metamorphic. Accounts of these societies are often puzzling, and the strange confused terms used by the reporters, especially in America, frequently make them unintelligible.
The learned, who are curious in these matters, would have saved themselves much time and labour had they kept two conspicuous facts before their eyes.