Alcoholism And Alcohol Dependence Among Native Americans Essay

Following the European invasion in America, Native Americans came to endure many problems. While some have faded, others still linger on in their lives. The issue of alcohol and alcoholism is one of them. From settlers using it to deceive, to today’s issues on the reservation, alcohol has played a devastating role in the lives of Native Americans. Knowing how the issue of alcohol became such a predominate part of Native Americans lives will allow us to spawn ideas on how to end the problem.

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

Native Americans have been neglected, abused, and tormented since the 1700’s when their land was abruptly invaded by Europeans. Europeans declared this “unknown” territory to be their property from then forward and did anything and everything to make sure this would happen. This included forced assimilation, where Natives were stripped of their cultural traditions and forced to assimilate to an english speaking, westernized culture (McLeigh, 2010). This included taking children from their families and sending them to boarding school to learn a new language, new cultural traditions, and new religious practices. Starting in 1860 and lasting until 1970, children were taken from their families at a young age and often lost touch with their family

of alcoholism and its impact upon the lives of the Native Americans, Alexie does not aim to put

            In this article Denise Martinez-Ramundo, talks about what she saw on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She talks about how much and how severe the alcohol abuse is on the reservation. She says that children as young as five or six years old have had alcoholic drinks. She also gives us the staggering statistic that 80-90% of adults on the Reservation have severe alcohol abuse problems. Lining the streets of the Pine Ridge

Native Americans as a whole have been typecast as drunks ever since the coming of the white man’s “fire water.” TS Naimi, MD et al. reports that alcohol is responsible for 11.7% of all American Indian and Alaska Native deaths, compared to 3.3% for the U.S. general population (939). This disturbing discrepancy reinforces the age old notion of the “drunk Indian.” Generalizations aside, is there some truth to this stereotype? Are Indians more likely than other races to be drunks? Of all the races, “Native Americans have the highest prevalence (12.1%) of heavy drinking…A larger percentage of Native Americans (29.6%) also are binge drinkers” (Chartier and Caetano 153). Although some research has been done on genetic causes, little is

Although tribes vacillate with regard to the use of alcohol and drugs, substance dependence is one of the principal sources of health problems facing Native Americans. As the graph below shows, there is a disparity in abuse.

The term alcoholism is a substance that is obtains through the mouth into the stomach, giving the individual a sudden feel of the alcohol. It’s an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or to the metal illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency. Within the Navajo nation reservation, I’d say, alcoholism is a very huge concern in the reservation. Alcohol is obtain and use by Navajo men and women to teenagers of boys and girls. It may be sold a remote area that is call bootleggers. It’s a very complicated drug to make our past and future generation understand it is not a good source. Prevention conferences do their best to talk to the community. Many with the single homes of other families have experience

Mexican-American has the highest use of alcohol use than other Hispanics of Latin decent. About 18 percent of Hispanic men and 6 percent of Hispanic women experienced at least one alcohol-related problem (Caetano, 1989), and Hispanic men encounter alcohol-related problems than African American and white men. The use of alcohol amongst Native Americans is greatly diverse. Not all tribes but some abstain from alcohol entirely. Native Americans were introduced to alcohol during the 19th century. Not being familiar with the substance the consumption of alcohol became a problem. Laws were made to prevent Native Americans from drinking but that law was repealed in 1953. Rates of heavy drinking are the highest amongst Native Americans, including Alaska Native (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002), tribal groups differ. For example, the Pueblo tribe of southwestern U.S completely abstain from drinking, where as 42 percent of Ojibwa adults are heavy drinkers (Longclaws, Barnes, grieve, and Dumoff, 1980). Other groups drink

Substance abuse is a topic most prefer not to discuss; it destroys lives, relationships and families all over the world. Native Americans seem to have suffered immensely by it. Since the coming of the Englishmen and the introduction of new knowledge and tools Native people have been trying to hold on to their own culture and their own way of life. Unfortunately with them came new items for consumption, alcohol was one of the main ingredients to the internal downfall of Native populations. Native American populations suffer greatly due to the ongoing epidemic of substance abuse and dependence; some things are being done about the problems people are having but in the end will it be enough to heal a nation? To open this paper I will look at

Alcoholism is one of our nation’s largest social issues to date, and carries with it many negative aspects, the most dire being death at the hands of this disease. Alcohol and alcoholism have been part of societies for centuries. This habit was brought over to the new world when the first settlers landed on the shores of what was to become America. Furthermore, in bringing alcohol to this new land an entire nation of Native American Indians were introduced to a product that has affected them more negatively than any other to date, and continues to suffer from today and probably well into the future.

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

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

The history of alcohol and drug abuse can be dated back for hundreds of years around the world; in addition, the side effects from abuse can last just as long. The extent of alcohol and drug abuse may change dramatically due to societal views and normality such as the Prohibition era and the legalization of medicinal marijuana. Understanding alcohol and drug abuse means that one must not examine the behavior of the drinker, but also the place, time, and context of the consumption of drugs and alcohol. Dating back to the Mayflower, the New World welcomed the brewing of beer and ale as a tradition of the early culture. The consumption of alcohol was excessive- it was consumed from the crack of dawn to the crack of dawn, at work, alone, together,

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