Totemism

A long time ago, an ancestor of almost each African clan found himself in a difficult situation. And the narrow escape was due to a catfish (or a leopard, or a coucal, or a black spitting cobra) that appeared to be nearby. Since then that person’s descendants and that animal or bird have been allies. A man must not kill his ally or harm it: it is his totem, a forbidden animal. If a man, by chance or on purpose, eats the meat of his totem, he cannot avoid a disaster. He might just have stomach ache, or he might get seriously ill. Or numerous troubles will haunt him; the offended ally can avenge in many ways. As soon as the man understands what mistake he has made, he must immediately make a purifying sacrifice, so that the alliance may be restored and the troubles may cease.

A person can have several totems,a main one and additional ones. Not only an animal, but also a plant can serve as a totem. Sometimes, not only the totem itself, but also all its “relatives” are considered forbidden. For example, the Manding clan Bamba considers the crocodile to be its totem animal (bamba means ‘crocodile’). But members of this clan cannot eat or kill not only crocodiles, but also monitor lizards, agama lizards, and all other lizards, as they are considered to be crocodile’s younger brothers.

Even after the conversion to Islam or Christianity many Africans still respect their totems. Only the staunchest Muslims say, “I’m a Muslim, and all my limitations are pork and alcohol”. And a member of the Yegbe clan of the Mwan people, after he had been converted to Protestantism, used to say, “Yegbe totmes are the papaya tree, the leopard and its relatives. But I am Christian, and so I eat cats in the name of Jesus!”

Baobab is a totemic tree of the Kanuri people.  Nigeria. The Kanuri. 2005.		Crocodile is a totemic animal of Oufoué Boigny, the first president of Côte d’Ivoire. That is why there is still an enormous lake for crocodiles in the plain center of the capital. Yamoussoukro, Vydrin V., 2001.