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This article is about the Mohave tribe of Native Americans. There is also a desert in the southwestern United States called the Mohave Desert.
The Mohave are a Native American tribe, many of whom live on or near the Colorado River Indian Tribes , Chemehuevi and Fort Mojave Indian Reservations on the Colorado River in California and Arizona. The tribe also shares hundreds of thousands of acres (hundreds of kmē) of reservation land with a few Hopi and Navaho. Established in 1865, the reservations have water rights in the Colorado River, which they use for irrigated farming. In addition to a marina, there are opportunities for boating, fishing, hunting and swimming.
The tribal headquarters, library and museum are in Parker, Arizona, about 40 miles (64 km) north of I-10. The National Indian Days Celebration is held in Parker Thursday through Sunday, the last week of September. The All Indian Rodeo is held the first weekend in December. RV facilities are available along the Colorado River.
The Mojave "Indians" call themselves the Pipa a'ha macave, which means (roughly) "The people who live by the water." The word macave is pronounced "ma-carv," the "e" being silent. Mojave names are typically only capitalized on the first word, with the following words all in low-case. Therefore a Mojave joke name would be rendered, for example, "My leg is made out of yellow pine" and not "My Leg Is Made Out Of Yellow Pine" as in the European / Westernized tradition. (And yes, this was the name of a Mojave man who lived in 1844: he once saw a "beaver eater" ("white man") with a peg leg, and he was so amused that he pretended to also have a wooden leg.)
A Mojave "joke name" (roughly analogous to nick names) was one that a Macave would assign herself or himself, or a friend would assign to someone. "Face like a horse" would be one example; "Kicked in the head" another. Some joke names were not funny at all, but were teasing and abusive. A Macave was socially bound to put up with it.
The following was published in the mid- 1950s by the United States Government, and is thus in the Public Domain. It applied to pre-1990s Macave: much no longer applies.
No aspect of social life is more elusive and less amenable to systematic study than are so-called "good manners" as distinct from basic personality traits. Anthropological literature is almost devoid of information of this kind, and it is doubtful whether relatively brief field-trips enable one to observe the manifold and subtle nuances of courtesy. Yet information of this sort is an indispensable part of the fieldworker s equipment. The present study deals chiefly with the etiquette of ordinary social relations, since the etiquette of courtship has already been described elsewhere. (1)
Only close relatives of opposite sexes, or else husband and wife, were permitted to share the same bench or wagon or auto- mobile seat. Once, when my female interpreter drove us some- where in a car converted into a pickup truck, my old informant, the shaman Hivsu: Tupo:ma, preferred to sit on the open platform of the truck, rather than share the front seat of the car with interpreter. When the late M. A. I. Nettle, M. D., drove my female interpreter, my male informant Hivsu: Tupo:ma and myself to view some petroglyphs, I sat with Dr. Nettle in the front seat, while interpreter and informant shared the comfortable back seat of the car. I found out later that both interpreter and informant were somewhat embarrassed by this arrangement, despite the fact that interpreter, a highly educated woman, was known to be devoted to her husband, and despite the fact that informant was an elderly man and a close friend of interpreters family.
The rule that unrelated persons of the opposite sexes should not share the same car seat can be readily linked with the Mohave belief that thoughts or daydreams about traveling with a member of the opposite sex induce amorous desires.'
WalkingWalking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling. When executed in shallow water, it is usually described as wading . The word is derived from the Old English walcan (to roll). Walking is generally distinguish - A woman who is walkingWalking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling. When executed in shallow water, it is usually described as wading . The word is derived from the Old English walcan (to roll). Walking is generally distinguish home alone should not talk to men whom she happens to meet on the way. A "good woman" does not walk with men, nor does she ride with them in a wagon or in a car, unless the man happens to be her husband or a close relative. SwimmingSwimming is the method by which humans (or other animals) move themselves through water. Swimming is a popular recreational activity, particularly in hot countries and in areas with natural watercourses. Swimming is also a competitive sport. There are man - A woman may swim either alone or else in the company of her husband or close relatives. If a man happens to be already swimming at the spot where she had intended to swim, she is supposed to look for another place. Should she violate this rule, she will expose herself to criticism and to gossip. This rule is frequently violated, however.' Dancing - Women are permitted to dance at gatherings where good singers sing their songs. They must, however, dance "in a decent way" and must not attract attention through cocky talk or through impish and showy behavior. "One should avoid the appearance of evil." EatingEating is the activity of consuming food and its digestion. Among human beings, eating is a central part of home life and many social activities. The preparation and consumption of food also has many cultural components, and plays an important role in all - A woman may eat from the same dish only with her husband, her ascendants, descendants, siblings, and first cousins, i.e., only with persons who are so closely related to her that no one would suspect them of '(carrying on. ) ) 5 Should a woman wish to share a fruit with a man who is neither her husband nor a close relative, she must divide the fruit and give the man his share before biting into it.The Mohave are most hospitable. Should a visitor arrive while a meal is being prepared or eaten, he will be invited to share the food. A failure to extend such an invitation is as deliberate an insult as is a refusal to accept hospitality.
The Mohave are great eaters and are pleased when their guests eat heartily. It is permissible to belch and to pick one's teeth.
Chewing gumChewing gum is like confectionery, but it is made to be chewed, not swallowed. Unsweetened ( sugar free) chewing gum stimulates saliva production, and helps to clean the surface of the teeth (even sugary gum may be helpful, since the sugar dissolves out v - The Mohave call chewing-gum halyak. In aboriginal times this term designated a certain native chewing substance which was prepared as follows: The cup-shape base of pumpkin-leaves was torn off and was filled with the milky sap of a vine called halyak. This conical cup was then stopped up ("corked") with a plug of wood and was toasted in the fire. After it was suitably parched, the substance was ready for chewing. Halyak had no narcotic or stimulating effect. Halyak chewing-plugs are no longer made. American chewing gum is moderately popular with adults, and rather popular with school children. Anyone is permitted to chew. Partly chewed halyak or modern chewing gum was never shared, as a token of affection, either with members of one's own sex or with persons of the opposite sex. When I de- scribed to them the Malay custom of passing on the half- chewed betel-plug, the Mohave declared it to be a disgusting habit. It is not improbable that this strong reaction to the thought of sharing a half-chewed wad of gum has its roots in the Mohave Indian's conscious awareness of sibling-rivalry for the maternal breast. (8) On the other hand anyone may offer fresh chewing gum to his friends or guests. The Mohave do not seem to chew plugs of tobacco. Tobaccoacuminata N. alata N. attenuata N. bigelovil N. clevelandii N. debneyi N. excelsior N. exigua N. forgetiana N. glutinosa N. kawakamii N. knightiana N. langsdorffii N. longiflora N. obtusifolia N. otephora N. paniculata N. plumbagifolia N. quadrivalvis N. - The Mohave of both sexes are very fond of cigarettes. Anyone who takes out a pack of cigarettes is expected to offer a cigarette to all those who happen to be present, before helping himself. Should one fail to do so, one exposes oneself to a reprimand or to a jeer. One day, owing to a severe cold and a sleepless night, I chanced to be ill and absentminded, and thus forgot to offer a cigarette to my octogenarian friend, Mrs. Tcatc. She upbraided me in no uncertain terms, and laughingly pretended not to believe my explanation that my oversight was due to the fact that I was ill and sleepy.It should be pointed out, however, that Mohave smoking etiquette is based on the principle of reciprocity. Hence they do not beg for cigarettes, nor do they arrogantly demand cigarettes from any chance-met White, the way some Pueblo Indians do. Least of all do they simply pocket a pack of cigarettes which is passed around in a group. Only those Mohave, who felt certain that I would not hesitate to ask for a cigarette, ever asked me outright for a smoke. In f act they sometimes insisted that it was my turn to smoke one of their cigarettes.
A Mohave man is not supposed to light the cigarette of a woman who is neither a wife nor a close relative. So long as I was merely a stranger, Mohave women permitted me to light their cigarettes "because you didn't know any better," but as soon as they began to think of me as a friend, I was told to conform to the Mohave pattern. Mohave men simply strike a match and then hand it to a woman, or else they offer her a fresh match.
The Mohave do not inhale while lighting their cigarettes. This habit may be due to the fact that the first matches to reach the Mohave were made with sulfur. They hold the cigarette in one hand and the match in the other hand, and toast the tip of the cigarette until it is lit. Only then do they bring the cigarette to their lips. As a rule only men appear to inhale the smoke, while women, as well as male transvestites, seem to refrain from doing so. This pattern is a rather explicit one. In 1932--33 I was often teased about being a berdache, because I smoked without inhaling. This habit of mine seemed so peculiar to them that, on the occasion of my second field trip (1935), one or two of my old friends commented on the fact that I had finally learned how to smoke like a man. A great deal of importance is attached to inhaling the smoke. "Should a man accept a cigarette and fall to inhale the smoke, people may never again offer him a cigarette." This statement may perhaps be a slight exaggeration.
The Mohave Indians also smoke small clay-pipes, and are much impressed with the skill of certain people who manage to smoke an entire pipe in four puffs. "They seem to swallow the smoke, and after a while they belch it out in a thick stream." Whenever someone like an elderly man named Lousetongue, who was known to be able to perform this trick, happened to be present, people urged each other to "give him some tobacco and let him show his tricks The Mohave do not seem to chew tobacco.
Photography - Mohave custom demands that the body as well as the property of the dead should be cremated. (7,13,15) The preservation of photographs would be an especially offensive violation of this rule, since it preserves "the shadow," i.e., soul (1) of the dead. Hence the Mohave are very reluctant to be photographed and resent any attempt to photograph them by stealth. On the other hand they hate to refuse a favor. A minor informant who had permitted me to photograph her hands, but not her face, in order to show how a cat's cradle should be held, was very grateful when I showed her the pictures which, as agreed, displayed only the central portion of her body and her hands. On the other hand my closer friends were quite pleased to have me photograph them. The case of my old friend Mrs. Tcatc is a particularly interesting one. Since I knew her to be rather conservative in her outlook, I never presumed to ask her to sit for her picture.Shortly after my last field trip she decided that she would probably die be- fore I had a chance to return to the reservation. Hence she asked a young friend of ours to photograph her in all her finery, and instructed him to send me the photograph, so that I would not forget her. Apparently her friendship for me enabled her to rationalize the very human desire to live forever to a sufficient extent to enable her to violate a stringent tribal taboo.
It should be added that the Mohave examined with the utmost interest photographs of Mohave Indians published by Kroeber, (1 4) and that the young boy who photographed Mrs. Tcatc had wanted a camera for many years and was very happy when he finally obtained one as a premium for having sold a certain amount of mail-order goods.
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