NMAT Social Sciences Practice Test

Totemism centers on a social group identifying with a totem, usually a specific animal, that serves as a sacred emblem and symbol of the group’s identity. The main practice is reverence or worship directed at that totem, which often shapes shared beliefs, rules, and ceremonies within the group. Because the totem is most commonly an animal, worship of an animal best captures what totemism is about. Belief in spirits, sacrifice rituals, and pilgrimage appear in many belief systems, but they are not the defining focus of totemism in the same way the relationship to a totem animal is.