Is Alcohol Destroying Native Americans?

Question

I live in the Southwest and I feel bad that many of the Alcohol related crashes are the result of a person of the Native American reservations here.

Now I have to say that not all Native Americans drink because I met plenty that dont. I met plenty with Masters degrees and PhDs so please dont tell me I'm racist.

But there are also so many that do and its costing lives.

Is there any Native American people or someone with knowledge about this shed some light on this topic.

I'm not making assumptions about the Native American people but I have noticed that alcohol is a problem on the reservations. And there are Native Americans with Spanish surnames.

And to the troll here, I will never get a nose job. I like my nose alot. My lips are big because I'm Black. I have Black features and proud of that, thank you very little.

Answer 1

Reservations have the same problems with unemployment, poverty, crime, etc. as blacks in the inner city. I think alcohol is one of those by-products of these conditions, similiar to drug use and the crack epidemic in large urban areas.

Some people have this image that Native Americans just drink more, but that's not the case.

Answer 2

There are many different theories about this. If you want to read a good book, find "Maps and Dreams."

The author observes some things about the tribe he is interacting with. First, the people often get drunk when they come into town. He supposes it is because they are uncomfortable around white people and western culture, and drink for the same reason that college kids drink - as a social buffer and to alleviate that uncomfortable feeling.

He observed that people who were binge drinking on the reservation were usually drinking as part of a celebration. There weren't very many "drunks" who just drank all day.

There's also the theory of our chemical makeup - some people believe that alcohol affects Native People worse. I don't know if this is true or not, there's not really any conclusive evidence.

What I will say is that from my own observations, the Native people I know don't drink any more or less than Westerners. I've done work on reservations and at Haskell Indian Nations University, and didn't see any more drinking on that campus than other, non-Indian campuses. I've seen drunk Indians in cities, I've also seen drunk white guys, black guys, and hispanic guys on the street.

It is a problem for some people. But I would say that what is destroying Natives more than alcohol is the U.S. government systematically destroying their cultures and denying them rights year after year. It's still going on today - don't believe me? Go read some Supreme Court cases where tribes have tried to get mineral rights on their lands or set air quality standards for their reservation. They're ruled against EVERY time.

Answer 3

It's true that there are a lot of Native Americans that drink, however I don't think they can quite be stereotyped as alcoholics yet. One of my best friends is Cherokee and he and his family live a complete substance free life, however he has told me about other relatives that do drink. Native American reservations in my opinion have a lot more freedom than other places, and I'm pretty sure alcohol and/or pipe smoking was part of the traditional Native American culture. (You know, I'm thinking of long long ago here.) So it is probably true that a lot of Native Americans are drinking, etc., but so are many other groups of people! And again, no whole ethnic group can be categorized as "alcoholics" just because of that.

Answer 4

White people destroyed Native Americans when they slaughtered an entire race of people and stripped them of their identity. Native Americans now live on reservations which are like ghettos, and are given just enough government handouts to subsist but only just. They have a sense of loss of identity and hopelessness which is why they turn to the drink and drugs.

Answer 5

My aunt worked on a Indian reservation, and found many of the natives had no resistance to alcohol addictions. It was something they just couldn't help themselves with, or is was so difficult to stop. It was sad to see a proud and brave people destroying themselves one drink at a time. The doctor on the reservation explained that people had a special gland on the side of our head that Indians didn't have, and that seemed to be an important part of fighting alcohol addictions.

Answer 6

I think by blaming Alcohol for Native Americans deaths is like blaming the White man's guns that were used to commit genocide a hundred years ago. For the atrocities that took place. The truth is that Alcohol is a choice, like picking up a gun or deciding to drive after drinking. We need to understand that by labeling Alcoholism a disease it removes the importance of personal responsibility. We all have decisions and we all are subject to the consequences for those decisions. I can only pray that things will improve for our Native American communities.

Answer 7

It's a problem with all people not just Native Americans. You should get with the social services director on your reservation and talk abouts ways of raising awareness. There are probably funds available, if you're a federally reconized tribe, that would help bring awareness and treatments. Someone can contact Indian Health Services and they could probably direct you from there where help is available. Good luck. 2D

Answer 8

Alcohol has been a blight on the Native American people since it was introduced to them by the Europeans. They are more susceptible to alcoholism genetically, and conditions on many reservations promote alcoholic behaviors. The best tool for preventing this problem is education. I encourage you to read Sherman Alexie's books. He discusses many problems faced by Native Americans today, not the least of which is alcoholism. I had a chance to see him speak when I was in college, and it really opened my eyes to this seldom-discussed issue.

Answer 9

I agree with Willow, it's an "equal opportunity" killer. I live in New Mexico and have observed that the majority of repeat drunk drivers arrested in the news have Hispanic last names. Does this mean alcohol is destroying Hispanic culture? I wouldn't make that assumption. I think that there is a problem with addiction in general within poor communities whatever the ethnic background.

Answer 10

As long as our casinos keep pushing alcohol we will have drunk PEOPLE on the reservations..remember now,theres whites and some blacks that do live on the reservations also/married into.
As long as theres white bars or mixed there will be drunk People everywhere... I think your just focused too much on Native Society because you live near Indians... Its always like that though..so thanx for sharing this..some of us who dont drink anymore think its in every persons' DNA..every nation...