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Why were individual totems especially associated with chiefs and medicine men?

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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.

Individual totems were especially associated with chiefs, medicine men, and other socially significant figures because these totems were believed to grant their owners special powers and protection. This relationship was defined by a deep, mystical bond of life and fate, often conceptualized as an alter ego or a simultaneous existence between the person and the animal or natural object.1

For medicine men specifically, the individual totem served as a vital helper and guardian. Because the person and their totem shared a life force, the totem could provide warnings of danger, gather information while the practitioner was in a trance or asleep, and even be dispatched to perform tasks such as sorcery. Due to this intimate connection, these totems were subject to strict taboos; any injury or harm inflicted upon the totem was believed to automatically befall the individual, making the protection of the totem a matter of personal survival.21