Effigy Mounds and the Lascaux Cave

The effigy mound builders used various animal shapes in the mounds to represent the order and separation of the world (pg 115). Their belief was that the world was divided into Upper and Lowerworlds. The upperworld consisted of the sky and the lower of the earth and water. These mounds also seemed to served the purpose of maintaining "balance and harmony" (pg 113).
Animal representation in the effigy mounds is a little different from that of the Lascaux Cave. Due to the fact that we are not completely sure of why the cave contained pictures of animals, we can't conclude that it was part of a belief system. We can suggest though, that it may have been the beginnings of some form of religion. As for the mounds it is known that this is part of Native American beliefs, honoring the animals of the world kept things in order. Both of these things constitute a religion to our definition. There are symbols that promote some sort of answer of being and order in the world.
The use of animals for sports teams' names is a bit different from both the mounds and cave. Choosing these names doesn't have to do with the belief that these animals have to do with exsistance and the general order of things in the world. Which according to our definintion of religion is not a religion, all it has is a symbol.