390 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 175 



(1) Behavior of the corpse: According to Drucker (1941) the Mo- 

 have place all corpses face downward on the funeral pyre, to prevent 

 them from rising to a "sitting position . . . frightening spectators out 

 of their wits." Wliile Drucker is certainly right in suggesting that 

 such movements may be due to muscular contractions caused by the 

 heat, one must also envisage the possibility that some of these moving 

 "corpses" were placed on the funeral pyre before actual death had 

 occurred. Thus, according to McNichols (1944), the Indian Agency 

 formerly sometimes sent a native policeman to the home of a dying 

 person, in order to prevent premature cremation. Moreover, by plac- 

 ing the corpse face downward on the pyre one can prevent the corpse 

 from "sitting up," but cannot prevent it from writhing, or from slip- 

 ping as various burnt logs collapse. Be that as it may, the fact that 

 some corpses "move" while being cremated is known to the Mohave, 

 who believe such movements to occur only when a person died of 

 witchcraft. 



Tcatc's statement (1938) : When a victim of witchcraft is being cremated, 

 toward the end of the cremation the corpse rises up on the pyre. That is how 

 people know that this person died of witchcraft; it happens every time they 

 cremate a bewitched person. Hivsu: Tupo:ma's corpse did not rise up, but 

 when they cremated Tcatc (J.H.), Kari Vaha :'s (=basket guts) 50-year-old 

 wife, who had been bewitched by Kwathany Hi :wa and died of a hemorrhage 

 from the mouth, a woman named T, S., as well as others, saw her corpse rise up 

 on the pyre. This happened about 2 years ago ( 1936 ? ) . 



(2) Killing the victim's heart: Since the movements of the corpse 

 on the funeral pyre once more remind the mourners that there is a 

 witch at large, the evil shaman must make special efforts to silence the 

 victim's heart which, after assuming the shape of an owllike being,''' 

 calls the witch "father" and names his name for all to hear. The fact 

 that the heart of the deceased victim calls his killer "father" is of 

 special interest. It dovetails with the belief that witches kill chiefly 

 their own relatives and also yields some insight into the possible 

 motivation of the victim of witchcraft, who refuses to cooperate with 

 his therapist by naming the person who bewitched him (pt. 7, pp. 

 383-386). Finally, it explains, at least in part (pt. 7, pp. 372-377), 

 why Mountain Lion, who kills two mythical deer, is specifically 

 referred to as their "maker" (Kroeber, 1948). 



Tcatc's and E. S.'s statement (1938) : When a person dies (of witchcraft) 

 and, 4 days later (sic!), is cremated, there comes from the hole or pit in which 

 they cremated the corpse an owl that is like a person (ipa O."* It has a face and 

 ears like a human being, but has the feet of an owl. It has, however, no feathers. 

 This creature is called hamurly kat-pa :tc (= ashes came out). The way it 

 comes out, it seems to be blown out of that hole. The evil shaman who be- 



"Bourkc (1889) says that the heart of every corpse turns Into a special kind of owl. 

 This Is not incompatible with the data given above. Some Mohave say that It Is a ball 

 of Are which emerges from the burnt corpse and then turns into an owl. 



B« Bourke (1889) says that the "poison" of tl»« witch, not an owl, emerges from the ashes. 



