Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 71 



calmly admitted that people were "bound to think of that" when he lost his 

 mind. He conceded that he had shamanistic powers, but avoided stating posi- 

 tively whether or not he had begun to practice. 



When last seen, Apeu Ismalyk gave the impression of a tense person in 

 partial remission and relatively well rehabilitated socially. His total bearing 

 left no doubt whatsoever that a recurrence of his transitory psychosis remained 

 a definite possibility, even though episodes of this type tend to be rarer once 

 middle age has been reached. Any suggestion that, in becoming a shaman, he 

 had been genuinely cured — be it "without insight" — must be rejected out of 

 hand, since Apen Ismalyk was quite obviously an ambulatory psychotic in 

 a labile state of temporary remission. 



Reference should also be made to the illness of Amat Valaka : (Case 

 34), which, though diagnosed as ahwe : halinok, has certain aspects 

 that suggest that a turning of powers against their owner also played 

 a role in its etiology. 



The single most important aspect of this case is that it demonstrates, 

 as is shown by Ahma Huma : re's remarks, that Hikye : t was voicing 

 a fairly generally accepted theory when he asserted that one cause of 

 insanity is "lyelyedhu : tc hi : wa hakwi : lyk," which can be translated 

 as "comprehension or knowledge exceed the heart." In modern psy- 

 chology, this would mean that the emotions and the ego functions are 

 swamped by autistic fantasy material erupting from the unconscious. 

 Hikye : t's own theories of the etiology of psychiatric disorders are, 

 in fact, a clear-cut example of his ego's inability to organize his 

 fantasies into a logical system (pt. 1, pp. 9-17) . 



DISORDERS OF THE SEXUAL IMPULSE 



The Mohave appear to differentiate, at least implicitly, between 

 manifest sexual mishehavior and a derangement of the sexual impulse 

 itself. The former is, for all practical purposes, defined as "endog- 

 enous," voluntary and controllable, while the latter is not, and is 

 therefore considered to be symptomatic of insanity. Sexual misbe- 

 havior, which is theoretically controllable, is condemned and some- 

 times even punished, in terms of ethical considerations. Disorders of 

 the sexual impulse — caused by some more or less impersonal "natural" 

 illness or by witchcraft — are, by contrast, defined as "insanity," which 

 must be dealt with therapeutically rather than punitively. The dis- 

 tinction is made especially clear by the radically different ways in 

 which society reacts to the kamalo : y, who is not only promiscuous 

 but also bad (ala : yk) (Devereux, 1948 f ) , and to the kindly nympho- 

 maniac, who has the ya tcahaetk neurosis. The kamalo : y is despised 

 and often even punitively raped. The woman suffering from ya 

 tcahaetk is pitied, and her good human qualities are freely recognized. 



Another useful contrast to be drawn is that between the shaman, 

 whose sexual misconduct is due to the "acting up" of his own magical 



