Book

Havasupai religion and mythology

University of Utah Press (68) • Published In 1964 • Pages: viii, 112

By: Smithson, Carma Lee, Euler, Robert C..

Abstract
This work was originally intended to be a detailed study of Havasupai religion and mythology, which prior to that time had been covered generally but not intensively by such authors as Kroeber and Spier. With this intent in mind, Smithson made several field trips to the Havasupai between the years 1951-1958 collecting data from a number of native informants. These data, however, were never compiled by the author, for in 1961 she died from an incurable disease leaving her notes to R.C. Euler for completion. He, who was allowed to use the remainder of the grant originally awarded to Smithson by the University of Utah, visited the Havasupai in 1962 for the purpose of verifying portions of the notes with his informants, and eventually organized the notes into their present form. (See foreword and preface for a more detailed account of the above.) In general, the work deals with Havasupai religion in terms of cosmology, spirits and sacred places, eschatology and concepts of the soul, dreams and their meanings, shamans and shamanistic curing, ideas about disease and illness, forms of medicinal therapy including the use of the sweathouse, and finally death and funeral customs. Mythology is presented in the form of 26 folk-tales.
Subjects
Shamans and psychotherapists
Magical and mental therapy
Revelation and divination
Theory of disease
Literary texts
Burial practices and funerals
Music
Dance
Mourning
culture
Havasupai
HRAF PubDate
2010
Region
North America
Sub Region
Southwest and Basin
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 1966: John Beierle; 2010
Field Date
1951-1958, 1962
Coverage Date
1890-1962
Coverage Place
Arizona, United States
Notes
Carma Lee Smithson and Robert C. Euler
Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-112)
LCCN
64064214
LCSH
Yuman Indians