Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 455 



(Sand Heart), of the Nyoltc gens. Her suicidal attempt was frustrated by 

 Hivsu : Tupo :ma and others, who dragged her away and poured cold water on 

 her until she quieted down. This incident took place on the Needles, Calif., 

 cremation ground, at about 1:00 p.m., "some twenty years ago" (191G?). At 

 that time both of Mu :th's parents were already dead, but her husband was still 

 alive. 



Comment 



Murth's suicidal attempt was the only one of the four recorded cases of 

 attempted funeral suicide which was not criticized in one way or the other, 

 perhaps because devotion to a son is more "respectable" in terms of the Mohave 

 value system than is attachment to a husband (Case 109). Moreover, unlike 

 Anyanyemarm (Case 111), Mu:th was not responsible for her son's death, nor 

 did her suicidal attempt involve the kind of grotesque mishap which occurred 

 when Utu:ra (Case 110), in trying to commit funeral suicide, only managed to 

 burn his hair. The fact that she quieted down after cold water was poured on 

 her suggests that her attempt was made in a state of hysterical excitement. 



CASE 109 (Informants: Hivsu: Tupo:ma and Hama : Utce:): 



Syuly, of the Syuly gens, a 25-year-old fullblood Mohave woman, threw herself 

 on the funeral pyre of her husband, Hamo :ce Kwaki :yo (mo:ce carrier) " of 

 the Mu:th gens, a 30-year-old fullblood Mohave, who had died of hiku:pk 

 (syphilis). Just before the cremation Syuly repeatedly declared that she would 

 throw herself on her husband's pyre. When, around 4 :00 or 5 :00 p.m., the pyre 

 on the Needles, Calif., cremation ground started to burn, Syuly began to run 

 around the fire until, suffocated by the smoke, she fell into the flames. The 

 burns she sustained were so severe that, for a while, her life seemed in danger. 

 This incident took place during the first decade of this century, at a time when 

 both of Syuly's parents were already dead. Sometime later she remarried and 

 eventually also died of syphilis. After translating this statement, Hama : Utce : 

 said : "She wanted to go with her husband (to the land of the dead) — but, all the 

 same, she married again, later on. Why, then, did she get so excited?" — a jibe 

 which elicited a markedly disapproving reaction in Hivsu : Tupo :ma. 



Comment 



Syuly apparently did mean to kill herself, since, unlike Utu:ra (Case 110), she 

 actually sustained severe burns. On the other hand, the fact that she loudly 

 proclaimed her intention to commit funeral suicide casts some doubt upon her 

 sincerity, since she could not help knowing that the Mohave are always on the 

 alert to frustrate such attempts. By contrast, the fact that she remarried fairly 

 soon does not necessarily justify Hama : Utce :'s skepticism about the sincerity of 

 Syuly's love for her deceased husband, since the grief of a loving widow is often 

 evidence of a real inclination for domesticity. At the same time Hama : Utce :'s 

 sarcastic remark also seems to reflect a certain degree of puzzlement. Being 

 exceptionally devoted to her husband Sumuramur^, she apparently could not un- 

 derstand how a truly loving wife could remarry so soon after the death of her 

 husband.^ It is, however, also possible that Hama : Utce :, who is not a fullblood 

 Mohave and is therefore especially anxious to proclaim her integral membership 

 in the Mohave tribe, simply voiced traditional Mohave attitudes more emphati- 



w This man was so fond of the edible mo :ce plant, that he always carried some of It 

 on his person. 



*" Needless to say, precisely becanse Hama : Utce : bad had a real taste of domestic 

 bliss, she herself remarried after being widowed. 



