Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 551 



people, one of whom had imitated the other, and both of whom had 

 followed the Mohave fashion in self -naming which prevailed in the 

 1920's, when more than a dozen men had names which contained 

 such words as "anus" and "feces." 



Sometimes one also discovers in one's field notes two almost identi- 

 cal appearing allonoms. In some cases these similarities are due 

 to the fact that two informants — one of wiiom may have been tooth- 

 less, or else given to running words together in a particular way — 

 simply pronounced the same allonom somewhat differently. In other 

 cases, however, one wonders whether one is actually dealing with two 

 different though similar sounding abridged names, and whether these 

 two names are the paired names of two different persons, or else the 

 similar sounding and simultaneously valid names of one individual, 

 who happens to be fond of certain words and uses them in several 

 of his names. 



In Mohave society such difficulties cannot be disposed of by re- 

 course to the genealogical method, because of such factors as the 

 taboo on the names of the dead, unstable marriages, illegitimacy, al- 

 leged changes of social identity while still in utero, and the added 

 confusion created by the introduction of English family names. As 

 for tlie direct questioning of the individuals concerned, it is, in some 

 cases, simply a further source of confusion. For example, it is al- 

 most certain that Tcatc did not know that she had several nicknames — 

 some of them in English — all of which involved allusions to her bent 

 back. Also, some individuals resent any mention of their early baby- 

 names, discarded personal names, or offensive nicknames ; in addition, 

 unless they know the anthropologist personally, they may not be will- 

 ing to admit that an especially obscene name is one of their currently 

 valid multiple names. 



Still more confusion is created by the fact that different informants 

 may call a given person by different names. In 1932, when Hivsu: 

 Tupo:ma had just discarded the name Siwi:, many people still re- 

 ferred to him by that name, though by 1938 most people called him 

 by his new name. Moreover, when a person has simultaneously a 

 neutral and an obscene name, there is a slight tendency to use this 

 neutral ("decent") name when discussing his nonsexual behavior, 

 and to call him by his obscene name when reporting some of his more 

 grotesque sexual exploits. The ultimate in idiosyncratic naming was 

 reached by Hivsu : Tupo :ma, who personally gave a certain man an 

 obscene nickname and habitually referred to him by that name even 

 though no one else did so. 



The Mohave themselves seem keenly aware of the difficulties result- 

 ing from this proliferation of names. As a result, they increasingly 

 use Agency-given English names, or else — unless they are quite cer- 

 tain that their interlocutor knows whom they are discussing — use 



