The aim of this article is to share some views about the social significance of totems among the Basotho ba Leboa (Northern Sotho people). As reflected in history, totems are not restricted to any particular continent, but are found throughout the world, including Africa, the Arctic polar region, Australia, Eastern Europe and Western Europe. To achieve the goal of this article, it will be shown how totemism reflects a connection between animals and human beings regarding power, wisdom, spirits, respect, trust and understanding. In totemistic beliefs, symbolic representation plays a significant role as the human being seeks to imitate the animal totem’s traits. This shall be demonstrated by demystifying the classification of various animal totems, categorising them into clans or groups, and evaluating their distinct features or characteristics and their impact on the human being. The fact that totems in the Northern Sotho culture are slowly dying out could perhaps be ascribed to the negative impact that formal education has had on the indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) of the African communities in South Africa. However, IKS is currently gaining popularity and is being incorporated into the formal education system to preserve indigenous knowledge for posterity. In this study, the ethnographic approach was used to collect data.

中文翻译：

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图腾主义：氏族的象征性表示形式，特别提及巴索陀·巴·勒博亚（Basotho ba Leboa）–人种学方法

本文的目的是就Basotho ba Leboa（北索托人）中图腾的社会意义分享一些看法。从历史上可以看出，图腾并不局限于任何特定的大陆，而是遍布非洲，北极极地，澳大利亚，东欧和西欧等世界各地。为了实现本文的目标，将展示图腾主义如何反映动物与人类之间在力量，智慧，精神，尊重，信任和理解方面的联系。在图腾主义信仰中，象征表达在人类试图模仿动物图腾特征方面起着重要作用。可以通过揭开各种动物图腾分类的神秘色彩，将它们分类为氏族或群体来证明这一点。并评估它们的独特特征或特性及其对人类的影响。北方索托文化中的图腾正在逐渐消失的事实，也许可以归因于正规教育对南非非洲社区的土著知识系统（IKS）的负面影响。但是，IKS目前正在流行，并已被纳入正规教育系统中，以保留后代的土著知识。在这项研究中，人种学方法用于收集数据。IKS目前正在流行，并已被纳入正规教育系统中，以保留后代的土著知识。在这项研究中，人种学方法用于收集数据。IKS目前正在流行，并已被纳入正规教育系统中，以保留后代的土著知识。在这项研究中，人种学方法用于收集数据。