146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



Tentative diagnosis. — Senile dementia and/or stroke causing paralysis. This 

 case Is a typical illustration of the "complications" theory of ahwe : nyevedhi :, 

 which is delined as an illness that is "not straight." The present case involves, 

 in addition to the ahvpe : element, references to witchcraft — which is a typical 

 complicating factor in various diseases — and also to the "activity psychosis" 

 (pt. 2, pp. 45-56). 



CASE 35 (Informants : Tcatc and E. S.) : 



Le:va (no English name) belonged to the KumadhI: gens, and, at the time 

 of his death, which occurred around 1914, was about 40 or 50 years of age. 

 (Q) I do not recall how long before the onset of his illness his parents had died, 

 but I do know that they were ali'eady deceased when he became ill. Le :va'a 

 younger maternal half brother, Madhuly Hi : dho (sugar eye), was a shaman 

 specializing in the cure of the food disease (itcemarv). Madhuly Hi :dho's 

 daughter, Nyo:rtc, known as Nyo:rtc Tce:vs, was the mother of the shaman 

 Hivsu : Tupo : ma, and, by another man, also the mother of the witch Hamuly 

 Huk' yfe:ra (who was eventually bewitched and killed by Hivsu: Tupo: ma 

 (Devereax, 1948 i) ). Le: va was also related to S.S.'s family. He was a heavy- 

 set man, resembling C.S. in build. He was a good man, and much respected by 

 his tribe. 



Le :va lived where he had been born and raised : near a lake called 

 Hanyom Masthidhe : va ( Lake dangerous, lake to be dreaded ) . Some shamans 

 occasionally have the urge to bewitch someone, for no special reason whatso- 

 ever. They do it simply because they know that they have the power to do 

 such things. They tend to bewitch their closest relatives, because they claim 

 to have the power to take the souls of their victims to a certain place, and 

 to keep them there, so that they can visit them [Devereux, 1937 c]. That 

 is what happened in Le :va's case. His great-nephew Hamuly Huk' yfe : ra be- 

 witched him. He used this lake, and, in some way, through his power, he did 

 something to the lake with Le:va, in Le:va's own dreams. (I.e., he guided 

 Le : va's dreams.) As a result of these dreams Le : va became ill. He v/as unable 

 to get around and, on his deathbed, he did quite a bit of talking. [E. S. guessed 

 that he was delirious.] He said just anything; sometimes he would even 

 call out the names of all his dead relatives. (This, being taboo, is, by defi- 

 nition, "typically insane behavior.") He would try to get up and pick up 

 anything within reach and would then throw these objects around. He re- 

 mained in that condition for more than a year. All he did in his delirium 

 was talk about his dead relatives. Sometimes he would also talk about his 

 good planting and harvesting, and at other times he would tell precisely who 

 had bewitched him. He also spoke of that lake. I specifically recall that, 

 just before his illness reached its final stage, he sometimes called for his 

 dead father and mother. We believe that his spirit eventually went to the 

 place where his father and his mother were, namely, to the land of the dead 

 called CSlya:yt (Devereux, 1937 a). When he began to speak of his parents, 

 the Mohave knew that he was nearing his death. I knew Le:va's parents, 

 having become acquainted with them when they lived at Needles. 



In the end Le :va's physical condition deteriorated quite rapidly. He did 

 not have his full appetite and ate very little, yet he would eat something 

 anyway, just because he did not know that he was eating something. In the 

 final stages of his disease, this formerly heavy-set man was nothing but skin 

 and bones. His brother Madhuly Hi : dho tried to treat him, but could not 

 effect a cure. At the very end, just before his death, he ceased to talk 

 for about half an hour. Then he died. 



