536 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 176 



The following case history reveals with great clarity the signifi- 

 cance of the dead in alcoholic behavior : 



CASE 135 (Informant: Hama: Utce:) : 



Hama : Utce : and her half brother, Taparevily, were raised by a very "bossy" 

 aunt, whom both of them disliked exceedingly. One day the young man bor- 

 rowed his aunt's car, became intoxicated, and wrecked it, whereupon his 

 aunt nagged him so much that he shot and killed himself. It is interesting that 

 the informant complained about her aunt mostly when she was riding in a 

 car. The accidental wrecking of the aunt's car (car= phallus) was perhaps 

 not entirely fortuitous, in terms of the logic of the unconscious, since the young 

 man in question intensely disliked his aggressive and "phallic" aunt (cf. also 

 Case 114). 



Taparevily's suicide over a car may explain why Hama : Utce : was so ambigu- 

 ously afraid of automobile accidents. Thus, in 1932-33, she professed to be 

 afraid of my driving, because I was, at that time, a relatively novice driver. 

 Yet, at the same time, she, herself, drove so fast over rutted roads on at 

 least one occasion, that Hivsu : Tupo :ma and I, who were bouncing up and 

 down on the open platform of the ramshackle truck, were quite afraid of 

 falling off and laughingly encouraged each other by exchanging shouts of 

 "alyha :" (=homosexual=coward). Hama: Utce's fear of automobile acci- 

 dents also played a role when her intoxicated husband drove a car she had 

 purchased with money lent to her by the same aunt, Tanu : (see also Case 136). 



CASE 136 (Informant: Hama: Utce:) : 



My husband Sumuramura is a very kindly person. He seldom drinks, and 

 when he does drink he simply passes out. He was angry with me only once. 

 One day he got drvmk somewhere, and it was quite late before we managed 

 to drive home. Since he drove in a zigzag line, I began to fear that he would 

 have an accident, and asked him to let me drive the car. He refused to listen 

 to me, however, and seemed to be somewhat annoyed because I was afraid of 

 his driving. Yet he drove so badly that every other minute I had to grab 

 the steering wheel, to prevent him from driving us into a ditch. Finally he 

 fell asleep at the wheel, which enabled me to take his place in the driver's 

 seat. While I was driving the car, he sat by my side, leaned his head against 

 my shoulder, and kept mumbling, "Don't be angry, sweetheart, I do love you 

 so !" He was just like a little baby — as nice and sweet as he always is. When 

 we reached our house, I put him to bed and we went to sleep. That is about 

 as angry as my husband will ever get. He is a good man. 



The intoxicated behavior jnst described is precisely what one 

 would expect from someone as gentle, kindly, and affectionate as 

 Sumuramura. 



CASE 137 (For full details see Case 64). 



(The present abstract of certain sections of Case 64 highlights problems 

 connected with "John Smith's" transitory alcohol addiction.) 



John Smith's principal, and emotionally highly important, father image died 

 under tragic circumstances at a time when, for the most creditable reasons, 

 John Smith had to spend many months away from the reservation. Shortly 

 thereafter, John Smith repeatedly communicated with a substitute father image, 

 indicating that, even though he did not feel happy and at ease in the position 

 which he occupied away from the reservation, he intended to remain with the 



