Alcoholism Among Native Americans
One of the biggest concerns in the Native American community today is the overwhelming presence of alcoholism. I was first informed of this by an old friendthat I served with in the Marine Corps. He had grown up on a reservation, and had subsequently seen the horrors of this alcohol abuse firsthand. Growing up Irish-American, I felt a strong empathy for this problem, and therefore felt it would be an Suzan Shown Hario of Indian Country Today wrote an outstanding article recounting the horrific death of a 21-year-old Muscogee woman who was run over by a car full of Native American men driving around drunk in Tulsa, Oklahoma. These men even went so far as to fabricate a story in which white racists had purposely murdered this womanfalsely believing that she was Middle Eastern. Fortunately, this lie did not hold up with the authorities and the aforementioned guilty parties are now awaiting trial and will hope-
This binge drinking may stem from the Native American youths engaging in alcoholic consumption at too early of an age. Ruben, also with the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, goes into detail on why some teens grow up with the notion that it is acceptable to drink excessively, and in many instances, expected. This same health agency also pointed out the correlation in binge drinking, stating that American Indians/ Native Alaskans were again leading the pack in 2000, coming in at a staggering 26. While 70% of Americans say they drink, only 40% of American Indians do. In some circles, the belief is that you are not a true Native American man unless you drink. Through a good home life and proper education, many children can be spared of these self-destructive traits. Once again, it was the teens who were suffering the most as a result. An article by Stephen Kunitz, with the Journal of Studies on Alcohol examines the association between conduct disorder before age 15 and subsequent alcoholdependence. Studies show that the "rate of alcoholism among Native Americans has been the highest in the nearly one hundred years running". While these statistics indicate a very broad scope of the American Indian population, I did come to find that there were more articles directed towards Navajo men, and their abuse of alcohol. 4 percenteach for whites and blacks, 5. There are actually many more statistics that back these theories up, as well as a few that link much of this substance abuse to the high suicide rate among Native Americans. The only solution of course, like any culture is better parenting as well as more of an emphasis on these societal patterns in formal schooling.
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