Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 469 



to be a fullblood Mohave Indian, appears to have married a Mexican, and dis- 

 played a number of character traits, such as stinginess and quarrelsomeness, 

 which the Mohave habitually associate with whites. Taparevily, on the other 

 hand, lived like a Mohave Indian, just as Hama : Utce:, though very well edu- 

 cated, always tried to live up to Mohave standards of conduct. Hence, racial 

 snobbishness, as well as a clash between Mohave and white ethics, played an 

 important role in creating a fatal conflict between Tanu : and her nephew 

 Taparevily, and in perpetuating a feud between Tanu : and her niece, who was 

 very much embittered by Tanu:'s behavior toward Taparevily, so that, when 

 she too had trouble over a car with Tanu:, she consciously identified with 

 Taparevily and planned to kill herself the way he did (Case 115) . 



CASE 115 (Informant: Hama: Utce:): 



Name: Hama: Utce: (Testicles charcoal). Gens: Claims to be Kunyii :th, 

 which is her mother's gens, but has no real gentile afiiliation. Race : Probably 

 half Mohave, three-eighths white, and one-eighth Maricopa. Sex : Female. Age : 

 35 (?). Marital status: Twice married. Children: One boy (half Pueblo In- 

 dian), living. One child died of "spinal meningitis." Parents: Dead. Educa- 

 tion : Well educated even by American standards. Occupation : Occasional 

 clerical work and housewife. Date of events 1936. Cause of suicidal wishes : 

 Friction with mother's half sister Tanu:. (Most of the events herein described 

 were personally observed by the writer.) 



In 1935, Hama : Utce : borrowed $80.00 from her morther's half sister Tanu ;, 

 in order to buy a car, and promised to repay the money within a year. Two 

 weeks after she borrowed the money, Tanu : dragged her to "court" before the 

 Agency Superintendent, and asked for the immediate return of the money. The 

 Superintendent, a sensible man who knew the defendant to be honest, believed 

 her statement that the money was lent for a year, and dismissed the case. 

 "After that I cried for days. I had an awful time keeping away from the gun 

 and the bichloride of mercury tablets. Only the thought of my son kept me 

 from doing it. I was thinking all the time of my (half) brother Taparevily 

 (Case 114). I said to myself that he too went through it — also because of a car. 

 Now I don't hate my aunt any longer. She is just dead to me. I don't know 

 what I would do if she died now. I could not mourn her. My feelings toward 

 the whole reservation have changed. People don't mean anything to me. I 

 just force myself to go to funerals. In the past I could really mourn for the 

 dead. My (half) brother must have felt the same way. He just sat and thought. 

 Now I sit and think : 'This is how he must have felt.' " On another occasion 

 she said : "My aunt can be nice, but mostly she is mean." 



One day, while Hama : Utce : was working with me, a man called her to his 

 car and spoke to her for a few minutes. When she came back she seemed very 

 wrought up, and, in reply to my questions, said that her aunt had just gone to 

 the Agency again, to make further trouble about the money. "My aunt — I 

 hope she dies of a stroke. She said to my half sister T., who is a twin and 

 should therefore be treated with special courtesy [Devereux, 1941] : 'On my 

 deathbed I'll pick up a stick and beat you up — all of you.' After that my half- 

 sister T. said to me, 'I hope she dies of a stroke — slowly. I hope she will be 

 unconscious, so she won't talk.' That is how I feel too. I want to die because 

 I feel so bitter. I like no one." Shortly afterward Hama : Utce : drove me up- 

 town in her car and saw her aunt sitting in the street, which upset her again 

 a great deal. She turned to me and said, "There she is again — I don't even 

 want to look at her. To me she is dead. She causes us all this trouble. I 

 don't like anyone anymore." Trying to quiet her down, I said, "Don't you even 

 like me?" She forced herself to reply, "No one!", but her remark did not 



