Indian Addictions

This threat to the native family is detrimental to the children who lack the emotional attachment, therefore creating immature adults who are deprived of a sense of direction or values. Apart from emotional dislocation, the rate of physical and sexual abuse among aboriginal Canadians is also high. There have been various stories of addiction that have been stemmed from abuse and neglect among Natives. Researchers claim that the loss of attachment of young people may lead to increase in addictive tendencies. First Nations people are believed to be largest substance-abusing groups in Canada, where there is formal discussion regarding addiction there are references to the high addiction rates in Aboriginal communities. The major difference between the addiction problem for Native Canadian and others is the element of social isolation and systemic discrimination. This has created a divide among Native communities and a decrease in the spirituality that was originally a central source of power in Aboriginal communities. Addiction has been a symptom to many other issues in First Nations communities, most of which come back to segregation and alienation. Today many first nation communities are fighting for basic needs such as clean water, this is evidence of the discrimination and injustices against first nations people that remain an issue. The first step to addressing these concerns is by ending the cycle of abuse

Alcoholism is an issue in many peoples lives. But for Native Americans it has become a very common issues effecting many people. Native Americans also affect more than health, issues like stereotyping and control come into play. Two authors decided to include the effects of alcohol in their works. By showing the affects of alcohol in Native Americans, people will be able to see the difficulties of the disease and try to overcome some of the problems.

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

Field, C. A., Caetano, R., Harris, T. R., Frankowski, R., and Roudsari, B., (2009). Ethnic differences in drinking outcomes following a brief alcohol intervention in the trauma care setting. Society for the Study of Addiction, 105, 62–73.

“Alcohol addiction stunts the spiritual, emotional and mental growth of a person”~Anonymous. Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, is a book based off the author’s teenage life. The novel is about a poor 14 year old named Junior who faced numerous challenges in his life. Junior has experienced bullying, he was called a traitor for following his dreams, got in a huge fight with his best friend and lost three very important people in his life because of alcohol. Fortunately in the end, Junior got through the pain and lived on but he learned many lessons. One of the lessons Junior learned was that the fall into addiction, in this situation alcohol, leads to a great deal of misery for the individual and those

There are also social issues that are a concern for many Native Americans. These issues can be either a result of or a cause of alcoholism. A job, or the lack of them, is one of the main concerns. Dr. Spillane confirms, “For many reservation-dwelling American Indians, access to standard life reinforces is…not

Addiction is a theme that has been present throughout my life through members of my family and myself. My father was addicted to gambling and alcohol until finally, his drinking ended his life. My brother struggles with alcohol and keeping ahead of his problematic drinking. I have several cousins that float between alcohol and drugs to fulfill the need for an outside substance. For many years, I pondered how I had escaped the addiction curse in my family only to realize that my addiction is food. I overeat and self-sooth through food even though I have health concerns and know a better way. I spent most of my young adulthood angry at my father because he could not or would not change for his family. I am understanding more through education

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

While most live and go on with life in a pretty average way other choose to live a life where risk is almost the main aspect. Drug and alcohol use for many is a death sentence. What compels people to destroy their lives, their relationships and sometimes their own family? What effect does this have on the Native American population? It has long been known that Aboriginal people suffer from alcoholism in vast numbers but with this paper we will get an in depth look at how this happened and why is it still a problem. We will also see the effects this has on future generations, who grow up in such an environment and even those genetically inclined to such addictive behaviours. And according to the DSM-III-R there is a difference between abuse and dependence, “abuse being one or more of the following occurring in a 12 moths period; failure to fulfill major obligations at work, home or school, substance use in physically hazardous situations, substance related legal problems, and continued use even when suffering social and interpersonal problems because of substance use. Also the symptoms must never have met the criteria for dependence. Dependence on the other hand, is three or more of the following, occurring anytime in the same 12 month period; a need for increased amounts to achieve “high” or diminished effect of particular amount over time, withdrawal when not using or need for something to replace substance when not available,

The environmental and social factors that Pine Ridge residents must deal with only contribute in this epidemic within their community. Cultural influences such as the decline of Native American culture could be a factor within the oppressed members of the Pine Ridge community. In addition, Cultural clashes that still exist between the dominant group and the oppressed group can cause such things as depression and low self-esteem within that cultural society. Jones-Saumty and et al ( ) state in their article Psychological Factors Of Familial Alcoholism in American Indians and Caucasians that "Indians with a familial history of alcoholism reported significantly more of the following drinking behaviors than did the familial Caucasian group: Drinking for mental benefits, obsessive-compulsive drinking, post-drinking guilt, drinking to change mood, loss of control, withdrawal (DTs), and nonalcoholic drug use" (p.786). Many of these reasons for drinking could easily be influenced by the environmental factors that play a part in this serious social issue on the reservation, which would include poverty, unemployment, poor education, and drug addiction. These directly correlate with alcoholism within certain groups or cultures, and this seems to be very evident on Pine Ridge. The reservation has an estimated population of roughly 40,000 and 35% of the

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

Since Asian Americans are mostly immigrants and their substance abuse issues are often close related to acculturation status, based on the conceptual framework of acculturation, the key to explain this phenomenon is to understand the cultural distance (Berry, 1997), the difference between the culture and values between society of origin and society of settlement. In this case, it is necessary to understand the different attitudes (attitudes of original society and that of settlement society) toward specific substance abuse issues (alcohol, drugs, tobacco) and the different attitudes toward the specific ethnic group.

38). Thus, in addition to the pain of indigenous dispossession from their land and family, the felt stigma from racism further catalyses emotional disorders in the Indigenous population. As historically alcohol and tobacco were exchange currency for sex and labour, its frequent consumption and soothing effect became a cure for Indigenous pain resulting in 52% Indigenous population smoking tobacco and consuming alcohol that is harmful to their health at twice the percentage of the non-Indigenous population (AIHW, 2007, p. 3). Since tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption are major risk factors to infant mortality, the pertinent negative effects of marginalisation as a product of colonialism is highlighted.

It focuses on a man named Thunder Moon who is a Cheyenne Native American warrior as he deals with the white man moving into Native territory. He was adopted by a great warrior as a child, and did not know that his father was a white man. This Cheyenne needed a son, and Thunder Moon was it and he was taught in all of the ways of the Cheyenne people. Thunder Moon, while young, sought honor from the man he calls his father by hunting and fighting to try and be accepted and get past the stigma of his lighter skin color. He goes on

For my topic I chose health and poverty and how addiction is affected by poverty on the Cherokee Reservation. The sources I picked are “Big Pharma”, “Health is Membership” and my personal experience growing up around the Cherokee Reservation. Seeing things happen and being around it most of my life the Reservation is not what people think it is. The Reservation has very high rate of poverty and drug abuse, this will be my main focus point. The three sources I have all show different ways that poverty affects drug addiction.