Bill,

You might try reading "The Continuum Concept" by Jean Liedloff who
spent
2.5 years with the Yequana tribe in South America.  As far as I know,
suicide is not common among HG societies, except when the old decide
it is
time to die for the good of the tribe.  Jean Liedloff postulates that
when
humans (we)are raised in an environment that meets our evolved
expectations, we are happy, confident, well-adjusted people.  She
attributes drub abuse, crime, suicide, and other aspects of our
culture to
the lack of "continuum" experience that humans are evolved to expect.
I am
sure that there are other factors at play here since not everyone in
our
society commits suicide, crimes, etc., but the basic premise makes
sense.

According to Liedloff, HGs generally have no sense of ownership or
feel
that they are being judged or in competition with others.  They have
nothing to prove because they are accepted by everyone else in the
tribe as
worthy members of the tribe.  I recall seeing a statistic that
estimated
that 1/3 of the hunters in a tribe produced nearly all of the meat
that the
tribe consumed.  Rather than hording, the hunters share the food with
all.
Those that shared the most were held in the highest esteem in the
tribe.

Because each individual member of the tribe feels "welcome and
worthy", as
Liedloff puts it, they have no reason to turn to anti-social behavior
to
find an outlet for their frustrations or to get attention.

In our society, we are constantly being compared, especially by our
parents, to others, expected to be high-achievers, drowning ourselves
in
consumerism, and are generally unhappy.  It is very neurotic and no
wonder
that many people turn to "distractions" to dull the senses or find an
emotional outlet.  It is interesting that there are 100's if not
1000's of
cases of civilized men and women that have chosen to join native
tribes,
and lived as full members of those tribes, whereas there are no cases
where
natives have chosen to live with civilized societies, as far as I
know.

I would like to note that in HG societies that are largely sedentary
such
as the Kwakiutl of the Northwest American Coast, a very complex,
neurotic
society can develop even though the society is technically HG.

Brad

On Wed, 27 Sep 2000 14:09:16 -0700, Bill Dooley
<[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>Sorry to raise such a morbid topic, but I've been wondering and
>haven't found any information on point.
>
>Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U.S. (especially my current
>home state of Nevada) and in Japan. Is suicide known at all among
>traditional hunter-gatherer societies? If so, what is the incidence?
>
>Even the ancient Greeks described melancholia, so it's not strictly a
>feature of modern life. However, it may be a feature of a structured
>society, where everyone _must_ find a place within the structure. I
>suspect that modern life is so structured that many more people break
>under the strain. Perhaps in an HG society, just about everyone can
>fit in one way or another.
>
>Bill