Navaho witchcraft

Kluckhohn, Clyde

book chapter

Navaho witchcraft

The Museum • Cambridge, Mass. • Published In 1944 • Pages: x, 140

By: Kluckhohn, Clyde.

Abstract
This is the most lengthy and thorough study in existence devoted exclusively to witchcraft among the Navajos. (In fact, there is only one other, and that is by a psychologist.) The author, an outstanding authority on the tribe, has lived among Navajos over a period of many years, during which he collected the incidents and stories on which his witchcraft observations are based. This is a detailed account not only of the different types of witchcraft, but also of the function they play in the development of Navajo personality and their relation to other aspects of the society. A careful analysis is made of the reasons for the recent increase in the belief in witchcraft. In the text, all references to Arabic numbers within parentheses or preceded by a dash refer always to the numbered interview excerpts in the appendices. When the excerpts themselves are preceded by this sign #, they are paraphrases (written down later) or rough translations from the Navajo. Interviews marked with an asterisk come from the field notes of W. W. Hill. All other excerpts were written down at the time of the interview in the exact words of the informant or interpreter.

Theoretical orientation in research and its results

Organization and analysis of results of research

Adjustment processes

Comparative evidence

Acculturation and culture contact

Functional and adaptational interpretations

Hunting and trapping

Recreational and non-therapeutic drugs

Representative art

Ingroup antagonisms

Behavior toward non-relatives

Social control