Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 443 



in their old age things which would be useful to them in the land of 

 ghosts. The Mohave — 



are careless of property and spend money freely . . . Only the old women evince 

 some disposition to hoard for their funeral . . . The destroying of property with 

 the dead is the subject of much concern to most Mohave and is frequently 

 discussed . . . Old women with difficulty keep a horse alive on gathered mes- 

 quite C"^) in order that it may be killed and eaten at their funeral . . . When a 

 man has sung for his dying or dead son, he throws away and gives him — chupilyk 

 (tcupilyk) — his songs. An old woman had saved some odds and ends of prop- 

 erty for chuinlyk for herself. When she sold them, she declared her intention of 

 buying food which would pass into her body and thus be destroyed with her. 

 She was perhaps humorous in her remarks, but at the same time evidently 

 explaining to her conscience. (Kroeber, 1925 a.) 



It is obvious that the wholesale destruction of a dead man's home 

 and property, which was heretofore also available to his family and 

 friends, is bound to elicit some anxiously, but ineffectually, concealed 

 regret, even in notoriously generous people, as the following obser- 

 vation will show. 



CASE 107 (Personal observation) : 



In July 1935 I arrived unannounced at Parker, Ariz., and immediately learned 

 that a certain flue old gentleman — the father of Sumuramura and the father- 

 in-law of Hama: Utce: — had just died, and that a wake ("cry") was being 

 held for him." Though it was already late in the evening, I immediately drove 

 down to the reservation to comfort my friends, but, due to the fact that during 

 Day 214 years of absence new roads had been built, I was unable to find Hama : 

 Utce :'s house. Finally I stopped a passing car and asked the Mohave who 

 were in it to tell me where I could find the bereaved family. Since it was dark, 

 I was not recognized, and since I was perhaps not personally acquainted with 

 these persons, a man told me rather brusquely that I could not see that family 

 since they were at the "cry" for the deceased. I replied that I understood that no 

 outsider could be present at a cry and that I had only meant to let the bereaved 

 couple know that I deeply shared their grief. 



As soon as I gave him my name the man made a complete about face and 

 insistently asked me to follow his car, since they were themselves on their way 

 to the cry and felt perfectly certain that the mourners would want very much 

 to see me. I agreed to follow them to the house where the cry was held, but, 

 despite the urging of my new friends, remained outside, for fear of intruding, 

 and simply asked my guide to inform Hama : Utce : of my presence and to 

 convey to her my sympathy, which he agreed to do. However, in less than a 

 minute Hama : Utce : came running through the courtyard, and, taking my 

 hand, led me indoors, saying: "If anything could comfort me at this time, it 

 would be your being here with us, my friend." After expressing in a few 

 words my genuinely felt sympathy and sorrow, I quietly entered the house, 

 where I was warmly welcomed by Sumuramura and others, and was asked to 

 sit at the same table with the chief mourners and to share their meal. I imagine 

 that this was done not only because the bereaved couple was as fond of me 



"Mohave women hardly ever ride (Case 24) or drive a wagon and therefore seldom 

 own horses. (Present writer's note.) 



" This "cry" was held in a private home and not in a certain tribal building usually 

 spoken of as the "cry house" (pi. 4, b). 



492655—61 29 



