412 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



to one informant, also a son in this epidemic and therefore felt very bitter to- 

 ward Tciivakong, who openly claimed to have caused the epidemic. Hence, the 

 bereaved Hikoc Hmaykuta :va and certain other railroad workers, who, accord- 

 ing to Pulyi :k at least, were Kaveltcadhom Indians, and who had also lost 

 children in this epidemic, decided to kill the witch. They waylaid him one 

 evening near the roundhouse, which Tcavakong had to pass on his way home, 

 and asked him point blank whether he was actually responsible for the epidemic. 

 When Tcavakong once more admitted having caused it, Hikoc Hmay- 

 kuta :va wounded him mortally by hitting him over the head with a piece of 

 metal. The attackers then departed, leaving Tcavakong lying in a pool of blood. 

 The witch died the same night and his corpse was discovered next morning by 

 some Mohave beadvvork sellers on their way to the station. His relatives took 

 possession of his corpse and cremated it, but did nothing to avenge his death 

 "because they could not find the murderers." (Presumably the identity of the 

 killers did not become known until some time later.) 



Comment 



Tcavakong was one of the few witches actually known to have boasted of 

 having caused an epidemic. It is not hard to see why a wretchedly poor and 

 crippled epileptic, who had little enough to live for and enjoyed almost no 

 prestige, should have persuaded himself that he had caused an epidemic and 

 should have sought notoriety by advertising this fact, in order to become — at 

 least temporarily — an important personage. His steadfastness in telling his 

 assailants that he had started the epidemic — even though he must have known 

 that in so doing he sealed his own fate — can likewise be understood in simple 

 human terms. Tcaviikong's final defiance was apparently the one great moment 

 in the life of a crippled, epileptic, and neglected pauper, who had to clown 

 day after day for the despised whites in order to eke out a meager living. It 

 was an "operatic" gesture, but an understandable one, especially on the part 

 of an epileptic, whose neurological disability is always aggravated by a great 

 deal of impulsive and reactive hostility. 



CASE 104 (Informants: Tcatc and E. S. also O :otc herself.) : 



The following case history is presented here in an abridged form, the entire 

 occurrence, together with a detailed account of an interview with O :otc, hav- 

 ing been published elsewhere (Devereux, 1948 f ). 



Anyay Ha :m — whose various other names, gentile afliliation, and vital sta- 

 tistics are given in part 4 (pp. 1S4-18U) — was a witch who cured the hikwi :r 

 disease (pt. 4, pp. 117-128), body sores, colds and pneumonia and the moua :v 

 hahnok illness (pt. 4, pp. 184-186). He was, moveover, a well-known witch, who 

 made no secret of his activities. Thus, he openly admitted that, for some un- 

 known reason, he had bewitched his own son, R. E. L., whose Indian name could 

 not be recalled. He also boasted both to people in general and to Huau Husek', 

 the maternal uncle of his bewitched son's widow, that he had bewitched the 

 parents of Huau Husek' some 18 or 20 years earlier, and then threatened to 

 bewitch also Huau Husek' and his wife O :otc. Moreover, adding insult to in- 

 jury, Anyay Ha :m had an affair with O :otc, which became known, either be- 

 cause, according to one report, Anyay Ha :m and O :otc were caught in the act 

 by Ilnau Ilusek's sister Mu :th Nyemsuthkha :v (=to pick out), who reported 

 the matter to Huau Husek' (Case 42 and 43), or, according to another account, 

 because Anyay Ha :m himself openly boasted of the affair to Mu :th Nyem- 

 sutkha :v, or, more probably, because, after being caught in the act, Anyay Ha :m 

 chose to boast of his conquest, as lewd men are prone to do (Devereux, 1950 a). 



