Devereui] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICTDE 311 



Yet, even though the Mohave feels impelled to condemn those who 

 are "weak, crazy or stubborn" enough to kill themselves, he is far 

 from consistent in Ms attitude. A few days after Hama : Utce : ex- 

 pressed the traditional opinion that all suicides were weak and crazy, 

 I went with her over the actual list of suicides which we had compiled 

 and asked her to express an opinion about each of these concrete 

 persons, instead of about the suicide as an abstract "social type." 

 To my surprise, she said : "All of them were pretty good people. No 

 one thought they would do such a thing. They were brave. People 

 mourn for suicides, but, underneath it all, they are appalled that any- 

 one should grieve his family and kin." While this statement defi- 

 nitely reflects the Mohave tendency to condemn the "sin," but to be 

 lenient toward the "sinner," it is quite likely that Hama: Utce:'s 

 sudden tolerance also had personal causes. Indeed, just at that point 

 she had come to feel that she, herself, had reasons for toying with the 

 idea of self-destruction (Case 115). Moreover, her explicit reference 

 to the grief of the survivors was probably motivated by her conscious 

 wish and hope that her death would shame and grieve her aunt, whose 

 cantankerousness was responsible for her suicidal thoughts. The in- 

 ference that Hama : Utce :'s sudden leniency had at least partly sub- 

 jective causes is strongly supported by the fact that the other inform- 

 ant, Hivsu: Tuporma, continued to voice his disapproval of anyone 

 who committed suicide: "People despise suicides, and a certain man 

 who tried, but failed, to kill himself is often teased for liis abortive 

 suicidal attempt" (Case 117).'** 



On the whole, no great significance should be attached to the Mohave 

 view that suicides are objectionable simply because they are weak 

 enough to experience extreme psychic distress. This attitude is nearly 

 always voiced only in the form of general statements about suicide. 

 Thus, even though Hivsu : Tupo :ma never retracted or qualified his 

 general condemnation of suicide, whenever a concrete case was dis- 

 cussed he, like every other Mohave, nearly always added a word of 

 regret, made a more or less lame attempt to justify the suicide, or tried 

 at least to arouse compassion for the person who killed himself. 



Finally, there is a marked difference in the Mohave Indian's 

 reaction to those who kill themselves because their feelings 

 were hurt in some manner, and to those who kill themselves because 

 they grieve over the death of a brother or relative. The latter are 

 hardly ever described as "crazy" or "weak," perhaps because the idea 

 of following the dead to the land of ghosts pervades many aspects of 



"* One of the most common oversights In anthropological fleldwork Is the failure to take 

 Into account the mood of the Informant who makes certain sweeping statements, especially 

 In connection with attitudes and values. The above Information was reproduced in great 

 detail, in order to underline the Importance of evaluating the Informants' statements not 

 only as regards their objective validity, but also in terms of personal motivation and bias. 



