Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 157 



The patient may also dream of the old home in which all members of his 

 (or her) family were formerly living. In dream the patient sees once more 

 the old house, as it was when he (she) was happy there. In other cases, how- 

 ever, the home of the patient's youth appears all battered and abandoned in 

 his (her) dreams. He (she) will also see the path which he (she) used to take 

 when he (she) went to the fields or for wood. A young man may dream of how 

 he picked up an ax or some other implement which he once used and will see 

 the roads which he used to travel. The patient will dream of his youth and of 

 the (puberty?) ceremonies he participated in, in order to gain endurance 

 (Devereux, 1949 a). 



Some women are generous and some hold a high position in the tribe. The 

 patient may dream about the objects which (such?) women use in their every- 

 day life, e.g., he may dream about their metates, etc." All such dreams cause 

 disease. In dream, one may find it diflScult to grind the corn on the metate or 

 else one may dream that one is tired and that one's legs and hands ache. Then, 

 as one's endurance decreases, one wonders why this happens. These fatigue 

 dreams then cause one to have the same kind of pains also when one is awake. 

 This too is a form of hiwey lak. Yet, if the patient has a great deal of resist- 

 ance, he may not become ill in spite of the pains that rack him. 



If one dreams of cohabiting with persons whom one likes, in dream one may 

 even like their way of spitting, and may therefore allow them to slobber into 

 one's mouth (while one is kissing them) in dream,** and one will do whatever 

 the loved one wants. 



When I speak of such dreams to patients, they may recall certain of their 

 forgotten dreams. I mention every type of dream that may cause this sickness, 

 so that the patient may recognize (recall?) his dreams. A patient may also have 

 incestuous dreams about the dead. 



It is really not right for me to tell you all I know, because another shaman 

 may be ofCended by my way of doing things, or else he may so gi-eatly resent 

 the order in which I am telling things that he will send out his bewitching 

 power and bewitch me. If that happens, I may carry on for two or three more 

 years and then die bewitched (Devereux, 1957 b). Professor Kroeber's in- 

 terpreter. Jack Jones, who interpreted everything, and especially the Creation 

 myth, died from this.** 



Cure: I use my right hand, because my power comes from the Ancient 

 Ones. I may, however, also use my left hand, as do those whose power comes 

 from Avikwame. [At this point the interpreter remarked : "The same power 

 may have been given also to Ahma Humarre:, but Harav He:ya goes deeper. 

 There are fundamental differences between their respective methods."] [I 

 was told there were certain food taboos.] Some shamans (e.g., Ahma Huma : re) 

 forbid certain foods, but I don't, even though some foods may pull down the 

 resistance of the patient. I give them whatever food is handy, and should it 

 harm them, I will cure them of that illness too. As to their relatives and my- 

 self — we can eat what we want. [Is intercourse taboo?] My treatment does not 

 involve sexual taboos. With my right hand I gently press the abdomen, and 

 the region just below the solar plexus. It is only a sort of massage, because 



*' Homosexually Inclined boys are attracted to female regalia and to female occupations 

 (Devereux, 1937 b). 



"* Compare In this context the ahwe : syndrome (pt. 4, pp. 128—150). Cf. also the mythical 

 theory that Baliva transmits veneral diseases (Kroeber, 1948). 



«» These remarks were indirect allusions to the fact that this Interview took place in the 

 presence, and with the help, of the shaman Hivsu : Tupo :ma. 



