98 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



possibly because such attacks were of a relatively brief duration. On 

 the other hand, relatives as well as friends sometimes attempted to 

 talk things over with the depressed or agitated man, and provided 

 what might be called "supportive therapy." Such conversations fol- 

 lowed no set pattern. "People just said whatever seemed appro- 

 priate." We may assume, therefore, that these interviews probably 

 revealed many of the subtler and more private shadings of Mohave 

 attitudes toward life and love. 



If this assumption is a correct one, a verbatim report of such a 

 conversation would be very valuable to the student of ethnopsychiatry, 

 since it would provide a direct glimpse of Mohave sentiment in action. 

 It is quite obvious, however, that, even if the anthropologist knew of 

 a case of hi : wa itck, he could not be present during such a conversa- 

 tion without profoundly affecting its course and content. On the 

 other hand, attempts to obtain accounts of such conversations proved 

 fruitless, because my informants kept on insisting that "people just 

 said whatever was appropriate." 



These circumstances oblige me to lay aside the anonymity of the 

 scientist and to report verbatim three conversations that took place 

 between my old friend Tcatc and myself at a time when, by 

 Mohave standards, I myself was suffering from hi :wa itck. The ex- 

 ample of Freud (1953) justifies self-revelation in the interest of 

 science, especially since, from the scientific point of view, Tcatc's 

 remarks, rather than mine, are the important ones. Moreover, what- 

 ever merit my study of the Mohave may possess is solely due to the 

 fact that I did not view the Mohave as trait lists to be unscrambled, 

 but as friends, who shared their lives with me, because I shared mine 

 with them. 



The following conversation took place at a time when I was in 

 love with a girl who did not reciprocate my feelings. The conversa- 

 tion with Tcatc was taken down verbatim, in the course of the conver- 

 sation itself, with my old friend Hama : Utce : acting as interpreter. 



Tcatc: "You sigh every time you mention j'^our sweetheart. If 

 you go on like this, you might end up by killing yourself." 



G. D. : (Misogynistic remark.) 



Tcatc: "You are crazy to think that. Among the Mohave, the 

 women blame the men for going crazy (with hi : wa itck) and feel 

 that all men should be wiped off the face of the earth.^^ You must 

 feel better now that you have said it." 



G. D. : (Derogatory remark about the girl's behavior.) 



8»The assertion that Mohave women wish all men to be killed is utterly false. On 

 the other hand, the fact that Tcatc made this sweeping statement, In order to make her 

 point, is typically Mohave. 



