All ghosts are totems of the Head
–
to
–
the
–
East Corpse clan, are thought of as
white, and are of course closely associated with death. The white man, too, is
closely associated with death, and he and all things pertaining to him are naturally
assigned to the Corpse clan as totems. The steel axe, as a totem, was the associated
with the Corpse clan. But as an “axe,” clearly linked with the stone axe, it is a
totem of the Sunlit Cloud Iguana clan. Moreover, the steel axe, like most European
goods, has no distinctive origin myth, nor are mythical ancestors associated with it.
Can anyone, sitting in the shade of a ti tree one afternoon create a myth to resolve
this confusion? No one has, and horrid suspicion arises as to the authenticity of the
origin myths, which failed to take into account this vast new universe of the white
man. The steel axe, shifting hopelessly between one clan and the other, is not only
replacing the stone axe physically, but it is hacking at the supports of the entire
cultural system.