Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 525 



ing out." In terms of this frame of reference, passing out is viewed 

 here as a quasi-hysterical reaction, akin to fainting, or to hysterical 

 paralysis. Similar flights from anxiety or tension into unconscious- 

 ness or sleep have been observed also among other primitive tribes 

 (Bateson and Mead, 1942) . 



Since practically the only wholly ego-dystonic force that intoxica- 

 tion releases in the Mohave male is aggression, it seems probable that 

 passing out is primarily a defense against aggression. This view is 

 substantiated by the fact that Mohave individuals do not seem to pass 

 out when aggTession is disguised as humor (Case 139), or is bolstered 

 by a "legitimate'' cause (Case 130), or, finally, when the drunken 

 act of aggression was soberly premeditated (Case 131). It is impor- 

 tant to point out in this context that aggression against whites would 

 not fit into any of these categories, since whites "don't know any bet- 

 ter" and therefore cannot provide "legitimate" provocation. 



As regards the Mohave woman, she seems to pass out so as to invite 

 either sexual (Devereux 1948 f, 1950 a) or else murderous aggression, 

 or both (Case 140, see also Case 105). 



Although the above comments constitute, to a certain extent, a new 

 approach to one aspect of alcoholism, they are wholly compatible 

 with classical and time-tested psychoanalytic theories. 



5. CHAKACTEBISTICS OF MOHAVE DRINKING HABITS 



The preceding sections consistently emphasized that the conduct 

 of the average intoxicated Mohave does not differ appreciably from 

 his normal behavior. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to illus- 

 trate normal and average patterns of behavior with case histories 

 sufficiently striking to overshadow those vrhich describe unique, mar- 

 ginal and sensational forms of misconduct. It is therefore to be feared 

 that the accounts of spectacular murders or orgies, to be given below, 

 will divert attention from the simple fact that the overwhelming 

 majority of intoxicated Mohave Indians behave in a quiet and fairly 

 reasonable manner. 



The unique or spectacular event constitutes an ever present tempta- 

 tion to emphasize the marginal rather than the average, and to focus 

 one's attention on climactic, rather than on routine, patterns of behav- 

 ior. Even anthropologists have occasionally succumbed to the fallacy 

 of misplaced emphasis, causing Roheim to exclaim ironically 

 that the only "savage" in primitive society is the visiting anthro- 

 pologist. Similarly, the strange notion — fonnerly so popular with 

 armchair anthropologists — that the "primitive" devotes most of his 

 time to magico-animistic pursuits, was severely criticized by Kroeber 

 (1934), who rightly stressed that the primitive behaves most of the 

 time in a perfectly rational and matter-of-fact manner, and acts alogi- 

 cally only in situations involving stress. 



