The high prevalence of alcohol use and its consequences among American Indians may be attributed to a number of factors, including the influence of the European colonists who first made large amounts of alcohol available to Indians, as well as current social and cultural factors. Efforts to prevent and treat alcohol problems among the American Indian population may be more effective if native beliefs and approaches are incorporated. Alcohol problems also may be prevented through policies regulating the sale and use of alcohol in Indian communities." |
An EpidemicThe suicide risk factors for Native youth are well known and widely reported. In their homes and communities, many Native youngsters face extreme poverty, hunger, alcoholism, substance abuse and family violence. Diabetes rates are high, and untreated mental illnesses such as depression are common. Unemployment tops 80 percent on some reservations. The perception may be that tribes have a lot of money from casinos, but that is simply not true for more than a few. Bullying and peer pressure pile on more trauma during the vulnerable teen years. Suicide figures vary from community to community, with the most troubling numbers in the Northern Plains, in Alaska and in parts of the Southwest. In Alaska, the suicide rate for young Native males is about nine times that of all young males in the United States, while Native females in Alaska kill themselves nineteen times as often as all U.S. females their age, according to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. This epidemic is not limited to one tribe or one reservation. It is happening in tribal communities across the nation
American Indians and AlcoholismAlcohol abuse and alcoholism have caused compounded problems for American Indian and Alaska Native peoples. In addition to the enormous physical and emotional tolls, the problems also have led to an unfortunate stereotype that has further burdened the Native communities of North America. Before European colonization, the native population of the territory that would eventually become the United States was relatively naïve to alcohol’s effects. Extreme intoxication was common among the colonists and provided a powerful model for the social use of alcohol among the inexperienced Indian communities. History may have therefore sown the seeds for the prevalence of alcohol abuse in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. Early demand, with no regulation and strong encouragement, may have contributed to a “tradition” of heavy alcohol use passed down from generation to generation, which has led to the current high level of alcohol-related problems.
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Stories1. The Neskantaga First Nation is a small community home to about four hundred people. In 2013, they declared a state of emergency after 27 youth attempted and seven youth committed suicide within 12 months. But still the crisis remains. Since then, at least three more deaths of youth have rocked the community.
2. In 2015, more than 100 Oglala Lakota youths between the ages of 9 and 24 attempted suicide on the Pine Ridge reservation. At least 19 succeeded. 3. In February of 2014, Santana Janis, a 12-year-old Lakota Indian, hanged herself in a small unheated building next to her home. She was a bright, outgoing girl with a shy smile and passion for horseback riding. Her mother was an alcoholic. 4. In 2007, the two suicides struck the Rosebud Sioux Reservation like a random virus. The young man, 19 years old, played varsity football and basketball at Todd County High School. He was admired across the reservation. The girl, weeks shy of her 14th birthday, made straight A’s at Todd County Middle School, played volleyball and basketball and led a traditional Lakota drum corps. They hanged themselves. This happened at the end of a particularly brutal two and a half months, from Jan. 1 to March 13, when tribal authorities were called to three suicides and scores of attempts. The next day tribal officials declared a state of emergency. |
Statistics and Facts(2009)
1. There are 565 federally-recognized tribes in 35 states. 2. Alcoholism mortality rates are 514 percent higher than the general population. 3. Suicide rates are more than double, and Native teens experience the highest rate of suicide of any population group in the United States. 4. Violence, including intentional injuries, homicide and suicide account for 75% of deaths for AI/AN youth age 12-20. 5. Adolescent AI/ANs have death rates 2 to 5 times the rate of Whites in the same age group. 6. 22% of females and 12% of males reported to have attempted suicide, while 5% had serious thoughts of suicide. 7. Only 1 in 8 (12.6 percent) of AI/AN adults (24,000 people) in need of alcohol or illicit drug use treatment in 2009 received treatment at a specialty facility. |