The raven as a totem animal represents introspection, courage, and self-knowledge. Shamans are spiritual beings with the ability to heal- to cure a person and to mend a situation. Shamanism requires specialized knowledge or abilities. To be initiated, the imagery includes being transported to a spirit world and interacting with the beings inhabiting it, meeting a spiritual guide and emerging transformed (being "dismantled" and "reassembled" again). The word "shaman" originated among the Siberian Tungus and literally means he (or she) who knows. The Button blanket is a ceremonial robe of the Pacific Northwest which proclaimed the rank of the owner and their hereditary rights, obligations, and powers. The community would know the dancer's family clan just by the design on the robe. In modern times, these robes are still worn at important ceremonies where the dancer or speaker gives forth a sense of spiritual power, prestige, and respect.