Why did Birhor clans use an emblem of their totem during ceremonies?

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totem fish mask — Totemism Totem fish mask from the Orokolo Bay area of New Guinea. Painted bark cloth over rattan frame with fringe of dried grass. Height 1.63 m.

The Birhor people, who are organized into patrilineal clans, utilize an emblem of their totem during the yearly offering to the chief spirit of the ancestral hill to represent the clan as a whole.1

During this ceremony, a diagram is drawn on the ground, and the totem emblem—which may be a flower, a piece of horn or skin, a wing, or a twig—is placed within one of its sections to signify the collective identity of the clan members. This practice reflects the deep, vital relationship the Birhor maintain with their totems, which they believe share a temperamental or physical similarity with the members of the clan.1