106 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



this form of mental disorder. The most telling argument, however, 

 in support of the thesis that the concept of hi : wa itck is almost wholly 

 social in origin, is the fact that only people who satisfy a number of 

 criteria are so diagnosed. Wlien O : otc's husband was imprisoned for 

 the slaying of the witch Anyay Harm (Case 104), Orotc professed 

 to have hi : wa itck, presumably in order to rationalize her subsequent 

 dissolute conduct (Devereux, 1948 f ), but her claim was unanimously 

 rejected by the tribe, since dissolute behavior is not held to be sympto- 

 matic of hi : wa itck. Thus, even though O : otc kept on saying that she 

 had hirwa itck, the tribe simply called her a kamalo:y (dissolute 

 woman) , and, instead of pitying her, severely condemned her conduct. 



HI : WA MAVA : KKH 



This illness was first mentioned in connection with the case history 

 of a woman who had some psychiatric symptoms while hospitalized 

 after an incomplete miscarriage followed by sepsis. No formal de- 

 scription of the syndrome itself was obtainable. When asked to 

 describe this clinical entity the informants simply said that its symp- 

 toms are those mentioned in Case 24. They did not imply, however, 

 that hi : wa mava : rkh is a necessary sequel of miscarriage ^^ or that 

 this illness cannot occur unless the patient first has an abortion or a 

 miscarriage. One feels that Case 24 was diagnosed as "hirwa 

 mava : rkh" chiefly because of symptoms of depression. This sug- 

 gests that, like other diagnostic labels in which the word "hi : wa" 

 (heart) occurs, the tenn hi : wa mava : rkh is applied to certain illnesses 

 characterized by disturbances of the mood, i. e., to an extreme affec- 

 tive reaction type. It must be clearly stated, however, that most of 

 the preceding comments are simply inferences. 



CASE 24 (Informant : O : otc, sister of the alleged kamalo : y) : 



Introduction. — In 1938 I was informed by the reservation physician that 

 O : otc, of that gens, a f ullblood Mohave woman in her middle twenties, had 

 had a confusional episode following an incomplete accidental ( ?) abortion com- 

 plicated by sepsis. My Mohave friends said I could interview her without an 

 interpreter and that I would probably be well received, since one of O : otc's 

 numerous sisters was at that time married to Kamtoskii Huanyeily (gens 

 Vi:mak) and another sister to his brother N. S., both of whom were grand- 

 nephews of my old friend and Informant Tcatc. 



I found O : otc in her home, surrounded by her three children, and entertaining 

 her amiable and intelligent brother-in-law Kanitoska Huanyeily. O : otc im- 

 pressed me as a very intelligent, well-mannered, kindly, cooperative, and friendly 

 person. She was somewhat thin and did not appear to be in good health. 

 However, she seemed active enough and her movements were free and graceful. 



*" Miscarriages (hiik'auvftk), as well as abortions (amayk kavo : rim = on-top step) 

 frequently cause severe feelings of guilt and an appreciable depression (Devereux, 1948 d, 

 1955 a). 



