Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 427 



formants were unfortunately unable to give further details about this 

 seemingly marginal practice and could not recall any concrete ex- 

 ample of this type of suicide. They were, however, quite certain that 

 such a custom did exist in aboriginal times and definitely felt that it 

 should be \newed as a form of suicide. 



In the absence of more detailed data, this custom can be discussed 

 only in terms of its general cultural setting. 



Death loishes of warriors. — The Mohave explicitly state (Kroeber, 

 1925 a) that braves and shamans are alike, in that neither of them 

 wishes to live long. McNichols (1944) adds that a really brave man 

 who lived a long life considered himself unfortunate. 



In order to understand the suicidalness imputed to the Mohave brave, 

 it is important to understand that the Mohave concept of courage is 

 based upon the ideal of stoical steadfastness. According to Hama: 

 Utce : "Braves are like Spartans (sic ! ) . You could stand and kill them 

 and they will not budge. They take it standing. Only such braves 

 can and will kill witches." This definition of courage is clearly for- 

 mulated in terms of a man's willingness and ability to endure punish- 

 ment and to be steadfast in adversity ,^^ rather than in terms of reckless, 

 berserker aggressivity. Steadfast courage appears to be essentially 

 a military virtue, possibly associated with sedentary life and infantry, 

 while reckless aggressivity is apparently a warrior virtue, perhaps as- 

 sociated with nomadism and cavalry. The pattern of Mohave warfare 

 clearly emphasized the virtue of steadfastness, even — and perhaps 

 especially — in the face of impossible odds. This steadfastness was 

 extremely conspicuous at the disastrous battle of Avi :-vava, where of 

 142 Mohave and Yuma infantry only two men — left for dead on the 

 battlefield— escaped alive (Kroeber, 1925 a; 1925 b).^^ The point to 

 be made in connection with this battle is that, even though hopelessly 

 outnumbered from the start, the Mohave and the Yuma refused to 

 escape without a fight to the finish. "They felt that even though they 

 had not expected to fight against a foe who greatly outnumbered them, 

 they had come to fight and that it was therefore up to them to give 

 battle, no matter what the odds were." This statement, made by one 

 of my informants, clearly underscores the place of stoicism in the 

 Mohave conception of courage. 



Travel. — The brave's tendency to commit suicide by straying into 

 enemy territory cannot be understood unless it is discussed in terms 

 of the role of traveling in Mohave society. 



" Compare the Hungarian adage : "The real man (leg^ny = bachelor) Is not the one 

 who can dish It out, but the one who can take It." 



28 According to Kroeber (1925 b), part of the Mohave broke and fled. According to my 

 Informants, however, the senior Mohave warriors (who wield short mallet-shaped clubs), 

 ordered the adolescents and young men (who wield straight clubs) to retire, while they 

 and the Yuma stood fast and were wiped out. 



492655—61 28 



