African Origins Through Totems

In this article, we are going through African Totems.

A totem is a word that is very popular in African culture and holds much significance in giving people or clan identity and also tracing their origin. It is also believed that during the era of our forefathers, there were no family names or surnames, hence the totems were the ones that identified and bound together people of the same clan, or even people of the same blood. The totem was either derived from an animal, plant, or even body part. Hence it held and still holds much value in African communities because people of the same totem are still up to now regarded as relatives even though they hold different family names or surnames.

The African people take pride in using these totems for they are a great symbol of their roots and origins. The totems are uttered on so many different occasions and when people also want to express their emotions and when also people perform their family’s traditional rituals for example when they call upon their ancestors or even when they remember their departed relatives who have passed on. An example where a totem is called out is when people are praising another person who would have done well, for example when the father of the family goes hunting and brings meat home for the family. The wife will ululate whilst uttering the totem of his husband praising him and also expressing gratitude and happiness towards the effort made hence the husband is kept motivated and encouraged to continue providing for the family. Although in today’s era, it might not be hunting in fact anything done by the father or even the mother even the kids be it a job well done in other aspects of life or achievements, people utter their totems to praise one another and keep their spirits high and motivated.

However, there are also some interesting beliefs that are associated with totems. From tradition, a person is not allowed to eat meat from his totem animal, For example, when a person holds a totem that was derived from a bird, that person is not allowed to eat the bird no matter how much he or she is tempted. It was and still is believed in some cultures that when a person eats his or her totem they or will have all their teeth fall off from their gums. Also, people who have the same totem but different family names were not allowed to marry one another as they were regarded as relatives. These beliefs in some cultures for different and various reasons, they no longer hold water, they are now being relaxed or ignored if I might say due to modernity. But what are the effects associated with turning a deaf ear to these beliefs? That’s a story for another day. To highlight just a few totems, examples include the lion totem, the Zebra totem, the Elephant totem, the monkey totem, the dove totem, and the leg totem only to mention a few.

In conclusion, the totems are of great significance in African culture as they resemble the origins of the clan and they continually carry the identity of the family and pass it on to the generations to come.