e shape of the totem, which carved or sculptured stone they wore as
an ornament, or carried as a charm to ward off evil and bring them good
luck.<51> We need only suppose that this system was very fully developed
among the Mound Builders of Wisconsin, to see what important bearing it
has on these effigy mounds.

A tribe located on one of the fertile river valleys of Wisconsin was
composed of various gens or clans. On some common point in proximity
to their villages, or some spot which commanded a wide view of the
surrounding country, each gens would rear an effigy of its totem,
the animal sacred to them. In every tribe some gens would be the most
powerful, or for some cause the most respected, and its totem would be
given in the largest effigy, and would be placed in the most commanding
position. In a different locality some other tribe would be located, and
some other totem would be regarded as of the most importance.

In this light effigy-mounds are not mere representatives of animal
forms. They are picture-writings on a gigantic scale, and are the source
of much true history. They tell us of different tribes, the clans which
composed them, the religious beliefs, and the ruling gens of the tribe.
Contemplating them, we seem to live again in the far-off past. The
white man disappears; waving forests claim their ancient domain, and the
rivers, with a more powerful current, roll in their olden channels. The
animals whose forms are imaged here, go trooping through the forest
or over the fertile bottom lands. The busy scenes of civilization give
place to the placid quiet of primeval times, and we seem to see peaceful
tribes of Mound Builders paying a rude veneration to their effigy-gods,
where now are churches of a more soul-satisfying religion.

But there is still another point to be learned from an examination of
these ancient mounds. Not only are they totems of the tribes, but they
were looked on in some sense as being guardian divinities, with power to
protect the homes of the tribe. This is learned by studying the location
in which they are placed. They occupy all points of observation.
In other parts of the Mound Builders' country, wherever we find
signal-mounds we find corresponding positions in Wisconsin occupied by
groups of effigy-mounds, or if one only is present, it is always the
one which, from the considerations we have stated, was regarded as the
ruling effigy of that section. It is as if their builders pla