Perhaps not. The programming for the elders and totems is complex, and it's not surprising that there might be a few undiscovered bugs out there. We know that there are problems with totems for elders who have gained the third skill from the gong. But I can't say what happened in this case.

By the way, only the first totem is celebrated by the villagers, since it is the one that completes the puzzle. All totems after that are not celebrated.