Devereui] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 11 



This (form of ?) liiku:pk is a disease that is relatively unknown to the 

 Indians. And this (type of ?) ahwe : disease is also unknown. But today, 

 because of that ku : na : v nyevedhi :, many of us are of mixed blood. Ku : na : v 

 nyevedhi : is, however, a prophecy, not a sickness. Ku : na : v means "something 

 told" and nyevedhi: means "ghost." It is not a material thing. Our blood is 

 mixed, and we know that the blood of the white man and of the Japanese and 

 Chinese is stronger than ours (Devereux, 1949 c). In some of the half breeds 

 we find the strength of this blood working against ours, which is supposed to be 

 weak. That is the general cause of the sickness called ahwe :. All this was 

 told in the beginning, and before man knew earthly life. 



What we term "hlkwi : r," and the sickness that causes insanity, occur on 

 this terrain, which is the general basis of sickness. By "basis" I mean the 

 stomach trouble, and the weakness of the blood. 



[At this point a brief conference with the interpreter disclosed that neither 

 of us could understand the general drift of Hikye : t's remarks ; I therefore 

 read back to him all recorded material. When he stated that his remarks had 

 been correctly transcribed, it was decided to eliminate one intermediate step 

 that might possibly add to the confusion. I yielded my place at the typewriter 

 to the interpreter, who, from then on, recorded directly his translation of all 

 of Hikye : t's subsequent remarks, my own task being limited to questioning him.] 



[What, precisely, is the "original" disease?] That is not known. The impurity 

 of the blood is the original disease. It is known as hiku : pk. A person who has 

 this disease does not know it. If, during sexual intercourse, he secretes semen, 

 this sort of forms a puslike matter within the person. If that person is 

 doctored in time, he may get well. But if he isn't treated, then he is keeping 

 this pain within himself. It may feel as though it (?) were going out, but, 

 because of the pains, he will keep it in. When this disease circulates all over 

 the body, then that person may go insane. This happens when the impure blood 

 goes into the head and the heart. This condition is then known as ahwe :, which 

 is the name by which ordinary people know it. It is also known as ku : na : v 

 nyevedhi :. 



[What is hahnok?] It is when, because of disease, the impure blood has 

 gone to the head, or to the heart. (Hahnok=contamination.) 



[What is ahwe:?] It is a disease caused by our mingling with different 

 bloods (aliens), and by the eating of foreign foods. (Ahwe := alien.) 



[What is hikwi:r?] In this disease the inhalation of cold and hot air is 

 mixing with the sputum which one swallows and which finds no passage out 

 of the body. This causes stomach cramps and severe pains of the heart. These 

 pains become unbearable and the patient becomes insane. (Hikwi : r=magical 

 snake. ) 



[What is the relation of all this to Tcatc's account of a type of insanity caused 

 by snakes?] When these symptoms have occurred, patients see in their dreams 

 people, and these people are supposed to be the hikwi : r. 



[Who can cure insanity at present?] There is no one left who can cure 

 insanity. 



[Then what do they do if someone becomes insane?] There are not very many 

 cases of that kind. They just take them to the hospital. Some are dying from 

 what white people call double pneumonia and pneumonia. 



It would be unprofitable to seek to read into these rambling data 

 anything resembling a general etiology of mental disease, especially 

 since, despite occasional references to well-established beliefs, their 



492655—61 2 



