The Poor Condition Of Native Americans

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.

Nichea Spillane argues that “Alcohol use among American Indians is perhaps the largest health concern in many American Indian communities” (8). Even with free medical clinics, known as Indian Health Services, many Native Americans who live in cities or have left their tribal lands find it difficult to receive the medical care that is needed. This could explain why, “Uninsured American Indians or Alaska Native Adults were more likely than uninsured adults in the general population to have binged on alcohol in the past month” (SAMHSA 6). Study after study show the disturbing effects of alcohol on the American Indians’ health. From minor health problems to alcohol-attributable deaths, to mental health and suicides, there is no way to document all the damage caused by excessive drinking. It is documented that “…excessive alcohol consumption is a leading cause of preventable death and years of lost life in this population. During 2001-2005, AmericanIndian/ AlaskaNatives were more than twice as likely to die from alcohol-related causes, compared with the U.S. general population (Naimi et al. 940).

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

W.E.B Du Bois once stated “to be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships” (qtd. in Rodgers 1). The Native American culture is often overlooked by many people in the United States today. What many people do not realize is that about twenty-five percent of Native Americans are living in poverty (Rodgers 1). A majority of the poverty among Native Americans is due to the United States breaking treaties that promised funds for their tribes. When non-Native Americans first began migrating to North America, the Indians were slowly having their land stripped away from them, and being pushed to live on small, poorly kept reservations. As well as taking

Before colonization, only a few Native Americans knew of alcohol. It was used informally or for religious ceremonies and did not create social problems due to this context. When the colonizers came, they used alcohol as a form of trade. With the expanding liquor trade, the stereotype of the “drunken Indian” was established. In all of the social and religious movements, alcohol was deemed symbolic as an artifact of dominance and assimilation.

The drug abuse and the alcoholism have become a very common problem among the American Indians. Even in some reservations eight families out of ten have the problems with alcoholism. Most unfortunately it spreads among their children too. For those the problem with the unemployment, the decay of the reservations, environmental destruction and the lack of any positive future prospect are probably very hard to bear.

Northern communities had harshest conditions with poor farming soil, therefore it became a place for skilled artisans and tailors.

In Lakota Woman, Mary Crow Dog devotes a portion of a few chapters to this subject. In one such chapter she states, “I started drinking because it was the natural way of life…I think I grew up with the idea that everybody was doing it…I started drinking when I was ten.” All of this is rather ironic when you consider the fact that liquor is forbidden on the reservation, and drinking it is illegal.

Within the Native American culture, drinking is often viewed as a social mechanism that facilitates interactions with family and friends and increases bonding; on the other hand, alcohol abusers are acutely aware of the destruction it has wrought in their lives. A tendency also exists for Indian drinkers to believe that Indian people have a special susceptibility to the effects of alcohol, both from physical vulnerability and from the social expectations of “being Indian” portrayed by the media (Beauvais,

American Indian and Alaskan Native communities have been the victim of a long and widespread problem with alcoholism and other substance-abuse. There has been a push for new evidence of Native tribes’ historical roots with alcohol problems. In recent decades, extensive developments in comprehending the causes and solutions of these problems have been witnessed. Substance abuse

“Several Native American civilizations developed alcoholic beverages in pre-Columbian times. A variety of fermented beverages from the Andes region of South America were created from corn, grapes or apples, called “chichi,” written in an article by Drug Free World organization (A Drug Free World, P.1). From the beginning of America there has always been alcohol/alcoholism. Drinking also has shaped the land in the 1700s and 1800s. Most areas of social life was at the gin mill or tavern. Experts say that the Revolution from England beginnings started in a tavern. Then “The nineteenth century brought a change in attitudes and the temperance movement began promoting the moderate use of alcohol—which ultimately became a push for total prohibition,” said Drug Free World (A Drug Free World, P.1). Today alcohol is widely accepted as well as demonized at the same time for those who drink it before the legal age.

Alcoholic drinks vary in the percentage of alcohol that they contain. All states enforce a minimum drinking age of 21, it is the most commonly used drug in our society today. History of Controlled Substance Fermented grain, fruit juice and honey have all been used to make alcohol for thousands of years. An early alcoholic drink in China was drank around 7000 B.C and in India an alcoholic beverage called sura, distilled from rice, was used between 3000 and 2000 B.C. Greek literature is full of warning against excessive drinking. Many Native Americans took part in developing alcoholic beverages in pre-Columbian times and a variety of fermented beverages from the Andes region of South America were created from corn, grapes (or) apples, which was called “chicha.”

In addition, due to the colonial past of so many cultures, several indigenous people today face many issues that seem to never be properly addressed and create a domino effect. These issues include a wide range of health problems, poverty, confusion with self-identity and spiritual beliefs. Excellent examples of these issues are found within the various Native Nations of North America. Beginning with health problems in Native Americans in the US, according to the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, persistent issues with diabetes, drug and alcohol addiction, obesity, hypertension, cancer, and mental health are among the highest rates in the United States. Issues with self-identity,

For Native Americans, life prior to contact with the Europeans would in many ways starkly contrast what would become of their societies after European influence. While one of the most apparent features of Native American societies included their great diversity, daily life for the Native Americans had some common key elements. For one, subsistence practices to feed their tribes must have made up most of their days, because in Native American societies it is stated in the book that, “there were no beggars among them”. According to Khan Academy, in 5000 BC, the domestication of corn (maize) would spur the development of agriculture, which would become a key feature needed for settled civilizations. This would change daily lives of Natives from a reliance on hunting and gathering to a reliance more on agricultural practices. Depending on the location of the society, daily life contrasted. Natives adapted to their environment and their methods of subsistence adapted to it as well (fishing, hunting, gathering, agricultural practices). For example, in more arid areas, Natives survived by hunting bison and following herds of animals. Pueblo people in the Southwest adapted by creating irrigation systems to provide water for their agriculture. Overall, it was the men that spent their daily lives hunting and fishing. Some major crops included maize (corn), squash, and beans. Another key element of Native American life included religious practices. Their daily lives would’ve consisted

American culture assumes that the Europeans were the founders and cultivators of the entire Western Hemisphere. They claimed to be the face of the Americas when in reality, the Natives were the first to discover the territory. Unfortunately, the Europeans chose to neglect the Natives and disregarded that they were the founders of the Americas. Furthermore, the the Europeans treated the Natives with horrendous and inhuman abuse. The Spanish pillaged and slaughtered the Natives, destroyed their land and culture, and left lasting effects that made the Natives appear less than human. During this time period, the Spanish saw the Natives as useless and inferior.