Handpainted wooden "totem" mask, very suitable as a decoration object.

A totem is a natural or supernatural object, creature or animal that has personal symbolic meaning for an individual and whose phenomena and energy are strongly connected. The word totem is of native American origin; The word is derived from the Algonic word odoodem, which means "family sign". At the Anishinaabeg from the American Great Lakes area, for example, one is born in the totem clan of the father represented by an animal, bird or fish. Totems, however, occur not only in America but also in the Siberian peoples whose American Indians descend. A simplified dramatic example of this belief in practice is the Walt Disney movie Brother Bear. In the movie, a boy from a Proto-Inuit tribe receives a totem of the Beer, representing love. Although he initially rejects, it appears at the end of the story that he achieved more ideals than anyone considered possible.