320 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



best to forget the dead as soon as possible (Kroeber, 1925 a). More- 

 over, even though they are keenly aware of the lure of the dead (pt. 4, 

 pp. 128-186 and passim), they are convinced that all contact with 

 ghosts is a threat to the living. Finally, the idea of a return of 

 remote ancestors is utterly incompatible with the basic Mohave belief 

 that, after a number of metamorphoses, there is a complete cessation 

 of existence (Devereux, 1937 a) . 



(3) A number of such cults promise at least the return of former 

 prosperity, which, as stated above, the Mohave never did experience 

 in aboriginal times, and do not profess to have experienced even in 

 their retrospective idealization of all other features of days gone by. 



(4) Many such cults have marked "cargo" features, promising new 

 Avealth to the faithful. Such a promise would have held no special 

 appeal for the Mohave, who do not value property very highly. In 

 this context it is permissible to suggest, at least tentatively, that such 

 cults chiefly arise among, or are adopted by, tribes who were formerly 

 relatively prosperous and are inclined to value property more than 

 the Mohave do. 



This avenue of escape having been denied to the Mohave, both by 

 their geographical position and by the specific beliefs and value sys- 

 tems of their culture, they had to resort to more personalized escapes, 

 which will be considered next. 



Their horizon having expanded, while their place in it shrank, the 

 Mohave began to look for compensatory escapes. It is quite possible 

 that one such early escape may have been an increased preoccupation 

 with the inner world, resulting in a further elaboration of their myths 

 and nonmaterial culture in general and in an increase in the number 

 of shamans. This statement is admittedly inferential, and possibly 

 even speculative. Is is, however, precisely what one would expect to 

 occur in a tribe oriented to the inner life and so essentially unritual- 

 istic that a nativistic cult, such as the Ghost Dance religion, would 

 have provided no solution for the psychological and cultural conflicts 

 resulting from the forcible acculturation to which it had been sub- 

 jected. Be that as it may, even a very few years ago Kroeber ®^ could 

 still comment on the "gallant rear guard action" of Mohave dream 

 culture, in the face of overwhelming acculturation pressures. As for 

 shamanism, it was still very much alive and generally accepted as 

 recently as the early 1950's, witness the fact that a progressive mother 

 was blamed for taking her son to a psychiatric hospital, instead of to 

 a shaman (Case 64). Notice sliould also bo taken of the recurrent 

 assertions of some informants that, as little as 15 years ago, shamanism 

 was on the increase (pt. 7, pp. 387-426). 



«^ Personal communication, 1950. 



