120 BUREAU OF AlklERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



Eivsu: Tupo:ma'8 statement (1933).—*= Thehikwirr hahnok illness is 

 caused by having intercourse under water. It only affects women. When, 

 during swimming parties, couples cohabit in the water, they do it standing 

 up. When intercourse is vaginal, the man may stand either in front or behind 

 the woman ; when it is anal, he stands behind her. Unless a woman does this 

 too often, if her blood is good she will not contract this illness. I will now 

 describe to you the symptoms of this illness: There are pains going from one 

 side to the other in the abdominal region. The upper limit of the tender area 

 is the navel and its lower limit the superior edge of the pubic bone. Unless a 

 shaman is called in to treat the sick woman, death will occur in a matter 

 of days. The shamans specializing in the cure of this disease are Harav He : ya 

 (whisky mouth) of Needles, Calif., and Kwathany Hi : wa (lizard heart) of 

 Parker, Ariz. [After translating this statement, the woman interpreter laugh- 

 ingly remarked, "I don't know why intercourse under water should cause disease. 

 Why, it's only a good wash !" °*] 



This exchange of repartee put Hivsu : Tupo : ma in the mood for some typical 

 Mohave banter. Turning toward one of his friends, he remarked sarcastically, 

 "Of course, if you were to do that to a woman, the water would come out 

 again, right away." (I. e., "you have so small an organ that it could not 

 plug the vagina.") Put on his mettle, the man retorted, "Sure, it would come 

 out again, but not via the vagina. It would come out via her mouth." (I. e., 

 because his penis is so long that it would push the water high up.)*" Hivsu: 

 Tupo : ma had the last word, however, when he replied, "Indeed, there would 

 be water coming out of her mouth ! The water she drank !" (I. e.. She would 

 vomit, because cohabitation with so inadequate a man would nauseate her.) 



This scurrilous conversation, so typical of Mohave banter, shows that the 

 characteristically humoristic approach of the Mohave to aU sexual matters 

 not directly related to gestation (Devereux, 1951 c) may manifest itself even 

 in the course of serious discussions about diseases that usually elicit con- 

 siderable concern. 



Comment 



Hivsu : Tupo : ma's theory differs from that of others, in that he attributes this 

 illness to the action of the male organ "* whereas the other informants attrib- 

 uted it to the action of snakes. It also differs from the others in stressing the 

 element of ribaldry, this being chiefly due to Hivsu : Tupo :ma's extroverted and 

 Rabelaisian personality makeup. It is probable, however, that precisely this 

 aspect of the informant's personality enabled him to translate the snake symbol 

 into its real meaning and to offer, instead of the cultural and symbolic etiological 

 theory of this illness, a nonsymbolic theory thereof (Devereux, 1957 a). His 

 account tallies with that of others in stressing that this illness is contracted In, 

 or under, water. The nefarious influence of cold water, especially on female 

 organs, is standard Mohave belief (Devereux, 1949 d). 



Eikye:Vs statement: See part 1, page 11. 



Ahma Euma:re's statement (i93S).— The Indians believe that the hikwi:r 

 is someone like a human being in the night (i.e., the nocturnal father, viewed 

 as a sexual ogre). You, of course, might not believe this. 



•8 Although this shaman did not specialize In the treatment of hlkwl : r hahnok, he 

 could give reliable Information even about diseases not coming within the scope of his own 

 therapeutic activities. The following account is therefore probably authoritative. 



■•This acculturated woman may have been familiar with douches. 



V A related exaggeration Is reported by the Berndts (1951) from Arnhelm Land. 



«» Under certain conditions a harmful effect Is ascribed to the penis (Devereux, 1948 b). 



