Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 419 



already have had some other girl iu miud, since, instead of going to the home of 

 the eloped wife, she went to another camp, where she was very badly received. 

 The married woman she wished to visit jeered at her and insultingly spoke to 

 her the way one woman speaks to another woman: "She thinks maybe that 

 the bow and arrows suit her. She thinks she is a man." These remarks did not 

 appear to ruffle Sahaykwisa :. She calmly replied : "Yes, I can shoot game for 

 you," and then left. We think she must have felt encouraged, because we say 

 that if a girl or woman insults her suitor, he can be pretty certain of winning 

 her in the end. A few days later Sahaykwisa : visited this woman once more 

 and asked her to grind corn for her, which is precisely what a bride is supposed 

 to do the moment she reaches her new husband's camp. Surprisingly enough, 

 the woman complied and ground com for the hwame :. The news of this spread 

 like wildfire all over the reservation, and people said : "I bet she will get herself 

 another wife. What can be the matter with all these women who fall for a 

 hwame:?" The third time Sahaykwisa: visited this camp, the woman left her 

 husband and eloped with the hwame :. The husband, a 35-year-old man named 

 Haq'au, did nothing about it at that time ; "He could not very well fight with a 

 transvestite." 



Actually, Sahaykwisa :'s ability to obtain one wife after another sui'prised 

 no one ; she was a venereal disease specialist and was therefore automatically 

 expected to be lucky in love. Moreover, she was a good provider, who earned a 

 living not only by practicing shamanism, but also by farming and hunting and, 

 according to some, also by prostituting herself occasionally to whites. In brief, 

 she earned enough to give her successive wives quantities of beads and pretty 

 clothes. 



Yet, in the end, Sahaykwisa :'s third wife also deserted her and returned to 

 Haq'au, who took her back, though not without some hesitation, "since she 

 had lowered herself by becoming the wife of a hwame:," and perhaps also be- 

 cause people warned him that Sahaykwisa : — who, by this time, was a recognized 

 healer and a practioner of witchcraft — might bewitch him. "She will get even 

 with you," people said, but Haq'au took back his former wife all the same. 



When Sahaykwisa : heard that her wife had gone back to Haq'au she once 

 more picked up her bow and arrows and went from her house, which was on 

 the southern outskirts of Needles. Calif., to Haq'au's camp, which was on the 

 northern edge of that town. She did not actually go to Haq'au's house, but 

 stood at a certain distance from it, looking at the camp. She did this several 

 times, "thinking of how she could bewitch this woman." People who noticed 

 what she was doing warned Haq'au, but he was not afraid and jestingly replied : 

 "Let her come! The next time she comes, I will show her what verus muto 

 can do." The next time Sahaykwisa: approached his camp, he waylaid her in 

 the bushes which surrounded his camp, tore off her clothes, and assaulted her. 

 Then he left her in the bushes and returned to his camp. As for Sahaykwisa :, 

 she picked herself up and left the scene without saying a word to anyone. 



After this occurrence Sahaykwisa : ceased to court women. Of course, by 

 that time she had already bewitched quite a few women, put their captive souls 

 in a place of her own, and cohabited with these souls in dream. Moreover, after 

 being raped she became a regular drunkard and developed a craving for men.* 

 Nonnumquam, cum temulenta sensu careret, quidam in locum secretum illam 

 trahebaut et pro pecunia earn a pluribus — ab albis quoque — stuprari sinebant.' 



6 A discussion of this changeover from lesbianism to alcoholism will be found at the 

 end of this case history. 



•While group intercourse with drunken women was fairly common (Devereux, 1948 1), 

 as a rule the Mohave did not Invite whites to participate in It and no one paid anything 

 to anyone. 



