Examines Durkheim’s (1951) & Halbwachs’s (1978) models of suicide. A study of a population of Alaska Natives shows that the suicide rate was explained by the Halbwachsian model at least as well as by the Durkheimian model & sometimes better. The Durkheimian model reflects a Cartesian dualism that accounts only for that which is observable, thus making for biased studies of suicide. Moreover, psychopathological research confirms the Halbwachsian model. (44 refs.)