Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 141 



Two points mentioned in the preceding statements deserve special notice: 

 Hikye:t, a somewliat weird and probably quite disturbed witch, whose 

 opinions often seemed quite idiosyncratic,** denied that ahwe : nyevedhi : is 

 fundamentally identical with ahwe : hahnok. 



G. T., an intelligent layman, related the ahwe: nyevedhi: syndrome to 

 the Nyavudho:ka song cycle. Kroeber (1925 a) calls this song cycle Nyava- 

 dhoka, but only states that little is known about it, that it begins at Aha'av'ulypo 

 (the primal house), and that the singer slaps his thigh. Hilyera Anyay was 

 puzzled by G. T.'s statement, and Ahma Hxmiatre, to whom he referred me 

 for further information, was, vmfortunately, not available at that time for 

 consultation. In the absence of other information about this song cycle, the 

 problem of its relationship to ahwe : nyevedhi : cannot be resolved. 



INCIDENCE 



All informants agreed that whereas one would expect to see many 

 cases of foreign sickness, one actually sees very few of them nowadays. 



Tcatc's statement {1938). — [Do you think that there are more insane people 

 nowadays than there were formerly?] In the past more people became insane, 

 because they had more Mohave blood in them. They were fullblood Mohave 

 and were therefore constantly exposed to insanity (through contacts with 

 aliens). Nowadays there are a lot of halfbreed Mohave. No wonder, then, that 

 there are so few insane. Yet, there should be more of them around because, 

 in the olden days, they went insane if they married an alien. 



Tcatc's discussion of the basic principles of all psychotherapy re- 

 veals the importance she attached to ahwe : hahnok, which seemed to 

 represent for her the very essence of all mental disorders. 



Tcato's statement (1938) : [Do shamans now living know how to cure 

 insanity?] No. [Then what do the Mohave do when someone becomes in- 

 sane?] In the old days there were ailments which we called straight sicknesses. 

 In those days, when our only food was corn, pimipkins, melons, beans, hamo:se 

 and hatev-i : ly, we got sick from these foods, but these ailments were called 

 "straight (ordinary) illnesses." When we began to eat strange food, the 

 sickness (which it caused) was no longer called a "straight" one. All shamans 

 who doctored such ailments in the olden days seem to have gone by now. When 



*° The tendency to present personal views as cultural material may be quite common 

 among tlie Mohave. Thus, Kroeber (1948) reports that when a woman named Maha ( = 

 Mah) told him a certain "Coyote" story In the presence of other people, the latter 

 vehemently protested that she did not tell a traditional story, but simply a (private) 

 dream. Kroeber failed to add, however, that many personal dreams may eventually become 

 part of Mohave culture, provided that they fit the Mohave cultural pattern — which Mah's 

 dream seemed to do — and provided also that the narrator's "dream Inspiration" is accepted 

 as genuine. In fact, even a budding shaman must first demonstrate his power publicly, 

 if he wishes to persuade others that he is, indeed, a shaman who had the proper power- 

 dreams. Even then he does not rate as an established shaman until he has a few cures 

 to his credit (Devereux, 1937 c). The growth and renewal of Mohave "dream culture" 

 is, thus, largely determined by a given dreamer's ability to persuade others that his 

 addition to Mohave culture or mythology has genuine "dream authority" behind it. This, 

 in turn, depends to a large extent on the congruence of the new material with the basic 

 pattern of Mohave culture. 



