Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 247 



basic inadequacies of current concepts of psychopathy. The one 

 thing we can be sure of is that neither the concept of delinquency (pt. 6, 

 pp. 260-285) nor the concept of "patterns of misconduct" (Linton, 

 1936) is broad enough to cover all the misdeeds ascribed to members 

 of this lineage, especially if we consider that one of these men, Yellak 

 Hi:ha (commonly called Lakiha) was, despite his bad reputation, 

 called in by Tcatc to treat her when she had the measles, while the 

 incestuous Mah was, in 1938, considered to be an effective healing 

 shaman as well as a witch, as was Mah's brother C. N., "because the 

 power to be a shaman runs in this family." ^^ 



TICS 



A tic, according to Tcatc, is called ave:tc kadhonk, which means 

 "mouse dig-in" or "bury-in." This condition was treated by shamans 

 who had sumatc ave :tc kadhonk power. The last shaman, Avho died 

 long before 1938 and who knew how to treat this disease, was 

 Tcavakye: (to bring a boat ashore) of the Tcatc gens. He was a 

 first cousin of the blind half-Cocopa man Hirdho (eyes). 



Three case histories were obtained. Although all three were 

 diagnosed as ave :tc kadhonk, it is certain that only the first (Case 68) 

 was a genuine tic. The other two seem to be involuntary or idio- 

 syncratic movements of the eyelids. 



CASE 68 (Informants : Tcatc and E. S.) : 



Tanyo: (to do it repeatedly) of the O :ote gens, a married man approximately 

 40 years of age, had a tic since childhood. It consisted of occasional spastic 

 movements of the face. 



Comment 



Tentative diagnosis. — Facial tic. 



The other two cases which Tcatc and E. S. diagnosed as avertc 

 kadhonk cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered as 

 genuine cases of tic. They are therefore not presented in the form of 

 numbered case histories, but as part of the main iQ.xi^ and as examples 

 of "lay" (i.e., non-shamanistic) misdiagnoses pertaining to a very 

 minor defect : 



(1) "W. W., of the Mah gens, has no Mohave name. He is the 

 cousin of your friend Sumuramura. For some 4 or 5 years past he 

 has tended to close his eyes involuntarily. [Is he under strain at such 

 times?] I don't think so ... he does not seem to be having any 

 difficulties." 



(2) "Matha:tc Nutuhu:lyk (wind blow) of the Mathartc gens, 

 used to close her eyes spasmodically whenever she coughed." 



Both of these pseudotics are, obviously, simple reflex actions. 



"^Apen Ismalyk (Case 4), who refused to become a shaman, and therefore became 

 psychotic, was also related to this lineage. In fact, this relationship was cited in support 

 or the supposition that he had obtained shamanistic powers in dream. 



