Devereux] 



MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 



343 



The hi :wa hira :uk illness of sucklings, who are given a rival for the 

 breast, appears to resemble the tavaknyi : k illness; its most interest- 

 ing aspect is, however, its designation. It is called "anger" rather 

 than "envy," perhaps because envy is particularly odious to the Mo- 

 have, who seldom if ever use this latter term, perhaps because they 

 do not care to recognize its existence,®* though it is clear enough that 

 the motivating force behind such "anger" is jealous envy (pt. 3, 

 p. 115). From the cultural point of view, the crucial difference 

 between the suckling's reaction to a rival for the maternal breast and 

 its reaction to a weaning necessitated by the mother's new pregnane}^ 

 seems to lie in the fact that, in the foiTner case, the conflict is rooted 

 in a present and real situation, whereas in the latter instance it is 

 actuated by "prenatal" factors which, according to the Mohave, seem 

 to possess a greater motivating force — especially where self-aggres- 

 sion is involved (pt, 7, pp. 302-303, passim) — than do the events of 

 post-natal life. 



The only weaning trauma capable of arousing suicidal impulses in 

 the suckling occurs when, due to a new pregnancy of the mother, the 

 infant must be weaned rather abruptly^ because the milk flow ceases. 

 It would therefore be understandable if the Mohave explained the dif- 

 ficulties caused by such a sudden weaning in terms of the sudden ces- 

 sation of the milk supply. Indeed, as soon as a lactating woman be- 

 comes pregnant, her milk rapidly deteriorates both quantitatively and 

 qualitatively, causing her infant to be both psychologically frustrated 

 and physiologically undernourished. 



However, perhaps because the Mohave are conditioned to deny 

 their oral enviousness, which is not quite respectable, while placing 

 preoccupations with prenatal experiences on a cultural pedestal, they 

 believe tavaknyi : k to be caused primarily by the child's awareness 

 of its mother's new pregnancy. 



The differences between the Mohave and the scientific interpreta- 

 tions of the psychosomatic process which culminates in tavaknyi :k 

 are summarized in table 2. 

 Table 2. — Differences between Mohave and scientific interpretations in tavdknyi:k 



Physiological state 

 of mother 



Pregnant but lac- 

 tating. Milk 

 scanty and of 

 poor quality. 



Milk flow decreases. 



Milk flow has 

 ceased. 



Psychological state 

 of suckling 



Hungry and frus- 

 trated. 



Hungry and 



angry. 

 Hungry, angry, 



ill. 



Mohave explanation 



Knows mother is pregnant. 

 Feels hurt and sad. Misses 

 the milk. Feels hurt when 

 scolded for fretting. 



Angry at the unborn intruder. 



Spitefully seeks to kill itself 

 through sickness, after first 

 making everyone thorough- 

 ly miserable. 



Scientific explanation 



Severely frustrated. Finds it 

 difficult to drink less milk 

 and to eat more mush and 

 solid food, all of a sudden. 



Angiy at mother. 



Self-aggression, complicated by 

 psychosomatic factors: Mal- 

 nutrition and "organic com- 

 T)liance" with .self-aggression. 

 Marasmus. 



"^ All groups are markedly reluctant to call a socially penalized afllect by its proper name. 

 Thus, in our own society, the experiencing of mere "lust" is usually denied both to others 

 and to oneself, by masking it with a variety of more ego-syntoulc and culture-syntonic 

 euphemisms. 



