Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 249 



fact, it is dangerous even to dream of climbing Avikwame. Should one dream 

 that one has climbed to the top of this mountain, one also dreams that, on reach- 

 ing its top, one suddenly goes up into the air and disappears. This dream will 

 cause the dreamer to become deaf and dumb. 



Incest : 



See page 48. 

 Perverted act of pregnant woman: 



Another cause of congenital muteness is oral cohabitation (Dev- 

 ereux, 1947 a) with a pregnant woman. This act is believed to damage 

 the child's "throat-cap" causing it to be born mute. It seems prob- 

 able that this belief reflects unconscious aggressive wishes directed at 

 the unborn child (Devereux, 1949 c) . 



CASE 70 ( Informants : Hivsu : Tupo :ma and Hama : Utce : ) : 



A group of men found a notoriously alcoholic pregnant woman in a state of 

 intoxication and cohabited with her serially. In due time this woman bore an 

 almost mute daughter. 



Comment 



The sexual abuse of intoxicated women is quite common in Mohave society 

 (Devereux 1948 i, 1950 a). Since this woman was sufficiently intoxicated to be 

 nearly unconscious, she could not have performed fellatio. Moreover, even 

 though the birth of an almost mute daughter is the whole point of the narrative, 

 the story itself does not specify that fellatio had, in fact, taken place. If it did 

 not take place, one is forced to assume that the Mohave attributed the daughter's 

 defect to the abuse to which her mother had been subjected and/or that the fetus 

 was damaged by being (forcibly "overfed," since the more developed fetuses are 

 believed to feed on sperm injected into the womb (Devereux, 1948 b). 



CASE 71 (Informant: Hivsu: Tupo:ma): 



On February 9, 1933, Hivsu: Tupo:ma introduced me to an allegedy feeble- 

 minded and almost mute girl, whose condition was said to be due to the fact that 

 her mother, while pregnant with her, had performed fellatio. However, she did 

 not impress me as being feebleminded, nor did she seem to have any of the more 

 obvious stigmata of hereditary syphilis. This girl was also mentioned to me 

 by the late M. A. I. Nettle, M.D., as one of the few mute Mohave Indians. 



Comment 



It is possible that this case is identical with Case 70. 



CASE 72 (Informant: Hilyera Anyay) : 



Hu:piny (called Opinynya by the Americans), who lives at Needles, is dumb. 

 He is single and has no children, but did have sexual relations with women, as is 

 shown by the fact that, on a certain occasion, he had contracted a venereal dis- 

 ease (hiku:pk). [Was this man dumb because his pregnant mother had per- 

 formed fellatio?] Of course; that is what we believe. [Does anyone actually 

 know that she had performed this act during her pregnancy?] No — but her 

 son's muteness proves that she had done so. 



