Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 93 



viewed by the Mohave themselves not as psychotic behavior, but as 

 deplorable breaches of decorum. 



The only serious clashes that may and do occur between divorced 

 people pertain to claims of paternity, which are not easily validated, 

 because certain Mohave theories postulate the possibility of changing 

 the embryo's affiliation through subsequent intercourse with the preg- 

 nant woman (Devereux, 1937 d, 1949 c) . Yet, because of the cultural 

 stress laid on tribal continuity (Kroeber, 1925 a), paternity claims 

 sometimes lead to severe clashes, involving, in one instance at least, 

 actual murder (Case 131). Since this type of clash fits the general 

 Mohave pattern, the participants, regardless of how wrought up they 

 may be, are not held to be insane. 



In brief, the Mohave ridicule romantic love in its more extreme man- 

 ifestations, and demand that the deserted lover or spouse accept the 

 situation as soon as the breach seems final. At the same time, their 

 disapproval is tempered by a genuine compassion for those who are 

 severely traumatized by the loss of a love object. The resultant of 

 these two basic attitudes is a complex and delicately balanced ambiva- 

 lence, which finds a formal expression in a well-laiown Mohave tale 

 belonging to the class of the so-called Orpheus myths. Since the 

 Halyec Matcoo : ta legend was published elsewhere (Devereux, 1948 h) , 

 it will suffice to summarize here its most relevant features. 



"Halyec Matcoo: ta". — When a certain village was almost wiped out by an epi- 

 demic, the one surviving adult man found a baby girl clinging to her dead 

 mother. He reared her and decided to marry her. Actuated by pride in his lovely 

 bride, he prepared to give a great wedding feast. This party was attended also 

 by a young married man, Halyec Matcoo : ta, who fell in love with the bride-to-be, 

 and abducted her, whereupon the jeering guests broke the old man's property 

 and dispersed. The .lilted man became depressed, and dispatched two evil sha- 

 mans in pursuit of the fugitives, instructing them to bewitch the girl. They 

 found her grinding corn for her husband, and killed her by magic. Her death 

 "ended the old man's hi : wa itck." Distressed by the death of his young wife, 

 the successful suitor now became afflicted with hi : wa itck. After many com- 

 plicated adventures, involving his death by drowning while too fascinated by a 

 vision of his dead wife to pay any attention to navigation hazards, and Involving 

 his resurrection as well, he bungled his chance to recover his dead wife, by 

 being overly eager to seize her as yet half -formed reincarnated body. He then 

 returned to his first wife, ill in body and sorely depressed. When his first wife 

 and their son broke a taboo, whose observance would have led to his recovery, he 

 turned into a bull-snake, amidst thunder in the hut. 



Pathogenesis : 



Hilyera Anyay's statement. — A man and a woman who are married and seem 

 to be getting along well with each other, may sometimes leave each other for 

 other spouses. On hearing of this new marriage, the deserted spouse may become 

 afflicted with hi : wa itck. because of his great love for the departed spouse. 

 Eventually they get over such attacks by themselves and are all right once more. 

 Had they not loved each other so much when they married, and even when they 



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