Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 151 



Hiwey lak is certainly an ancient diagnostic category, since Kroeber 

 (1925 a) mentions an apparently unrecorded song cycle called 

 Wellaka, which is used in the cure of diarrhea.^^ "Wellaka" is 

 certainly a contraction of hiwey lak, since I, myself, first recorded the 

 name of this illness as "weylak." 



Generally speaking, all forms of hiwey lak seem to involve a variety 

 of nutritional disturbances, from actual diarrhea to seemingly neu- 

 rotic anorexia. The significance of the fact that pseudocyesis, too, 

 is assigned to this group will be discussed at the proper point and will 

 be shown to form no exception to the statement that hiwey lak is 

 chiefly related to nutritional disorders. One may even venture to 

 suggest that just as the hi : wa group of illnesses (pt. 3, pp. 90-115) 

 seems to lump together cardiovascular emotional reaction patterns, so 

 the hiwey lak group seems to be made up of gastrointestinal emotional 

 reaction patterns. 



The data and their context. — The connection in which one seeks 

 information about a certain topic radically affects the range, scope, 

 and patterned orientation of the data which one obtains. Hence, one's 

 information on a given subject is bound to be incomplete unless that 

 topic is studied in relation to every major cultural matrix to which it 

 belongs (Devereux, 1957 a) . Data on hiwey lak were obtained in four 

 contexts, two of which were spontaneously mentioned by the inform- 

 ants themselves : 



(1) Venereal disease. — The term "hiwey lak" was first mentioned 

 by Hivsu : Tupo :ma, in response to questions about venereal diseases. 

 When asked to describe this illness, he explained that he was not an 

 expert on hiwey lak and advised me to consult two recognized spe- 

 cialists, Harav He:ya and Ahma Huma:re. He added that Harav 

 He:ya was actually qualified to treat all sex-linked disorders, since 

 he could treat not only hiwey lak, but also hikurpk (gonorrhea, 

 granuloma inguinale, and syphilis). In fact, even though Ahma 

 Huma :re treated only hiwey lak, but not hiku :pk, Hivsu : Tupo :ma 

 was of the opinion that it was more or less natural for a shaman to 

 treat both of these groups of diseases.^^ This view was shared even by 

 Ahma Huma : re, who definitely considered hiwey lak as a "venereal 

 disease without eruptions," though he, himself, did not treat hiku : pk, 

 and, naturally, it was shared also by Harav He : ya, who treated both 

 hiwey lak and hiku:pk. He specifically mentioned the transmission 

 of hiwey lak by saliva, which, according to the Mastamho myth 



^ Diarrhea is far more common amonj? the Mohave than is constipation. As I recall, 

 my Mohave informants mentioned constipation only In connection with the faked "preg- 

 nancies" of transvestites (Devereux, 1937 b) and with tuberculosis (Case 44). 



™ It might be noted In passing that, In referring me to these experts, Hivsu : Tupo nna 

 simply transposed to the fleldwork situation the standard shamanlstic procedure of 

 referring patients whom one Is not qualified to treat to the proper specialist. 



