Alcoholism In Native American Culture

People often believe many of the stereotypes that come with the Indian culture. In Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, alcoholism among the Native American characters is very prevalent. It could be argued that the Native Americans in the story drink alcohol because of the stereotype that it’s part of their culture. I contend that they drink as an approach to cope with their many life hardships.

While he may think that drinking is a way to escape being Native American, in actuality, it just perpetuates the cycle of alcoholism on the reservation.

Attempting to treat individuals that have alcohol related issues requires a depth of knowledge and skill, specifically, when providing care to individuals of differentiating ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The National on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) article discusses a multitude of resourceful information that is related to ethnicity, culture, and alcohol. Procuring detailed information that defines and discusses ethnicity, race, culture, cultural identification, ethnoculturally competence, and cultural competence provides a solid foundation for the beginner, intermediate, and expert clinician reading this material. This paper explores and offers an explanation of the author’s efforts to convey a clear, compelling and cogent message, the NIAAAs use of relevant sources to substantiate perspectives assumed, claims made and positions taken, and recommended strategies regarding suggested improvements to this article.

In an entire tribe, it is very concerning that only 5 are completely sober. This could also mean that minors have an easy way to access alcohol. This also shows how alcoholism is a very large problem within the reservation. Through this, alcohol is normalized for both minors and adults on the reservation. In addition, since alcoholism is normalized within Native-American communities, it can often end in lives being taken.

Some people disagree with the idea that the Native Americans are not solely to blame for their addiction to alcohol. When considering how a person feels about this topic, they must take into consideration the fact that it was not an issue for the Native Americans before the white settlers arrived. Their lives were much simpler, and they did not have to face this problem. Instead, they fell into deep poverty due to their inability to avoid drinking in excess. They could not keep jobs, and put an emphasis on buying liquor, rather than food. Also, the treatment that the white people reserved for the Native

Despite concerted efforts to improve alcohol and drug abuse prevention and clinical programs as well as decades of research, available information suggests that the prevalence of problematic substance use has not appreciably changed in many American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities (Novins et al., 2011). The severity at which the problematic issues persist varies in each of the communities but overtime it has been categorized as a long-standing problem. According to a recent report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA 2010), 14.8% of this population

As with many races and ethnicities, Native Americans have had the front row seat in social injustices related to gender and race from the social institutions in the United States. Native Americans faced much discrimination along with other groups when it came to educational institutions and businesses. In education, many young children had lower math and writing skills leading to fewer high school diplomas (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). In labor, Native Americans had high unemployment rates and a lower labor force than the rest of the demographic population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). They also have problems with poverty since more than twenty-five percent of this group live below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Additionally, there are high rates of violent victimization and contributing factors such as childhood trauma that lead to overall high deaths. A major contributing factor to these deaths is alcoholism which exceeds the US rates by seven times (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). Many of these statistics indicate great injustice. Furthermore, according to the Indian Health Services, American Indians have lower health and life expectancy when compared to the rest of America (2015). These staggering statistics point out some prevalent inequalities in modern social institutions that exist with Native Americans.

Ward et. al. explores alcohol and other drug abuses specifically in Native American college students. Using referenced data, the author clarifies that while Native Americans are one of the lowest percentage of groups that use alchol, they have the largest percentage of being a binge drinker. Relavent information clearly compares alcohol abuse in the Native American college population to that of the average US college student. The paper gives a transparent view of the data and thorough discriptions of what they deemed as alcohol “use” and “binge drinking”. Ward’s findings showed that there was no statistical evidence that Native American college students were more likely to binge drink than non-Native American students.

Day by day, Alcoholism keeps consuming more the Native Americans because economic disadvantages, cultural loss, abuse, physical and mental problems push them to addiction. It's very difficult for them because with all those problems that they're facing, they only think in drinking and in bad habits. Many Native Americans have a succesful life, with jobs, good salary, good relationships etc. but the big majority does'nt enjoy of this good things. Many people suffer day by day economic problems and more Native Americans have economic disadvantages because of not so much employment offers, discrimination etc.

Binge drinking is the most common form of substance abuse among native americans. The heavier the drinking is usually because they are depressed, anxious, or hopeless. A lot of these native americans feel powerless and conflicted, a reason they become so dependent on alcohol.

Native Americans learn to drink at a very early age, alcoholism is use to self sooth from everyday live, some drink to try and forget a past of abuse sexually or physically, mental and loneliness. Natives in Alaska tend to drink mostly due to isolation from others because communities are small, and the distance between the communities could take hours to reach other families or reservations.

The impact of various kinds of substances to cultural groups has historically been precipitated by the significance of particular substances on different cultural groups (Moore, 2010).This is mainly because the long term usage of these substances leads to the integration of the consumption of the substance into the cultural patterns of the given group. One such group that has been affected by the extensive usage of a particular substance is the Native American community. According to the Associated Press (2014, August 28), as noted on the MSNBC website, out of ten deaths among the Native American population, one is Alcohol related. Additionally, the prevalence of Alcohol consumption among the Native American population relates to

Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism have caused a major chaos for the people in the Native American culture. Furthermore, the Native Americans have gone through massive physical and emotional problems that cause an unfortunate stereotype that has further troubled the Native communities of North America. By this stereotyping the Natives, it extended the image that all Indian people are afflicted

The literary canon, being what we classify as available literature, consists of ethnic literature, regional literature, working-class literature, and women’s literature, to name a few (Krupat, 32). These are all very broad categories made up of many sub-categories. Native American literature makes up a small segment of the ethnic literary canon, yet it’s been an oral tradition within Native cultures for hundreds of years (Krupat, 32). What is interesting about Native American literature are the common themes of abuse, poverty, and alcoholism shared by Native authors. This commonality is due to typical life on a reservation for many Native Americans. Historically, Native Americans were first exposed to alcohol when European settlers showed up, and took advantage of their naivety regarding this debilitating substance (Lamarine, 143-144). Indian prohibition was the result, which lasted until 1953 (Lamarine, 144). Today, the Indian Health Service Task Force reports 3.2 percent of Indian deaths are a result of alcoholism, a number “four times higher than the national average” (Lamarine, 144). Alcohol is the fourth leading cause of death among Native Americans, showing how prominent this mental condition is within the Native American

Alcoholism is the leading health and social problem of American Indians than any other race. Native Americans who end up leaving the reservation to pursue education or employment opportunities express a high degree of discomfort and anxiety as a result of “feeling caught in two worlds.” By leaving the reservation they are abandoning their traditions, however temporarily, and suffering a sense of personal loss and insecurity. In entering a new world, this sense of loss and insecurity is heightened and becomes exacerbated, particularly if they do not experience success or acceptance in the new environment (Major, A.K. A 2003). However, if success and acceptance in the new world occurs, these individuals will still suffer the pangs of abandonment since they can never fully return to the reservation. In some cases, forced assimilation has extinguished the culture from many Indians as their grandparents and parents were forced to abandon the old ways in order to become more American. Thomas Jefferson, as well as many others believed that Native Americans can be just as ‘White’ Americans. In an attempt to increase local employment opportunities, many tribes have turned to gambling casinos and the collateral business which support these ventures. Illegal activities would certainly increase among Indians because of the simple fact that they need to survive by any means necessary. This can all