Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 119 



resembles that of a snake. Such monsters are prone to bite the nipple, and 

 their bite is believed to be poisonous (pt. 6, pp. 257-259) ." 



(2) Snake dreams. — If one dreams of being bitten by a rattlesnake, or of 

 flre falling on one's finger, one will be bitten by a rattlesnake (Kroeber, 1902). 

 A 12-year-old boy, attending fourth grade and getting B's and D's, dreamed, on 

 the night of November 9-10, 1938, that he was bitten by a snake, and then woke 

 up. He was unable to say what kind of a snake it was (Case 78; see also Case 

 77). It is noteworthy that dreams of real snakes usually involve being bitten, 

 while the hikwi : r snakes appearing in dreams simply blow upon the dreamer, 

 thus underscoring their supernatural shaman status, or else use guns and 

 bayonets, thus resembling the "evil" white people. (For other snake dreams, see 

 Case 24.) 



(S) Imaginary snakes. — Snakes are feared so much that they are seen 

 everywhere. 



CASE 26 (Informant : Modhar Taa : p, gens O : otc) : 



At a dance a boy went into the bushes to urinate and was badly frightened 

 by what he mistook for the hissing of a snake. He immediately jumped to one 

 side, in order to dodge the snake. After looking around more carefully he 

 realized that what he mistook for the hissing of a snake was merely the sound 

 of an old woman urinating. (Cf. Case 134.) 



Comment 



Freud's (1924 b) remarks about fausse reconnaissance are fully applicable to 

 this misidentification, since in Mohave psychology urinary exploits, including 

 the attempted exploits of women, are closely connected with phallic-exhibition- 

 istic impulses and, therefore, also with snakes, which among the Mohave are 

 phallic symbols. 



Snakes also occur in alcoholic hallucinations. I reported elsewhere (Case 134) 

 the case of an intoxicated man who, while walking home at night through the 

 bushes, saw white snakes everywhere. Two maladjusted boys also had dreams 

 of being bitten by snakes (Cases 77 and 78), and snake dreams are a charac- 

 teristic feature of the hikwi : r hahnok disease. 



(4) Snake charms. — See part 4, pp. 202-212. 



(5) Mythical snakes. — A mythical snake plays an important role in the 

 Creation myth of both the Mohave (Kroeber, 1925 a) and the Yuma (Harring- 

 ton, 1908). It is a dangerous and destructive "shaman," who encircles the 

 world and is eventually destroyed by certain supernatural beings, acting as 

 witch Idllers. (For hikwi :r dreams, without hikwi : r illness, cf. Case 24.) 



In addition to liikwi : r halinok (disease from the hikwi : r snake) — 

 the most commonly used term — the hikwi : r disease is known by other 

 names as well, e. g. : 



(a) Kumadhi: hikwi :r (thorn hikwi :r). 



(6) Hitoly hivarum hikwi : r. (Roughly translated as stomach pain, stands 

 there, spreads.) (Or else hitoly hiva : um : hitoly havekwi :r.) (Cf. pt. 1, p. 11.) 



Turning now to the four general accounts of this disease, it is pro- 

 posed to present them in succession, each account being followed by 

 a brief cultural comment. 



" These monsters may be children suffering from hereditary syphilis. 



