Background

• Native Americans living on reservations struggle to keep and maintain their cultural identities. Some tribes still live in abject poverty while trying to come to terms with the frustration that arises from socio-cultural limitations. Many tribal people drink to numb themselves and escape their personal, social and family problems, very much like other people do. However, for Native people, drinking alcohol, can lead to alcohol poisoning because of a genetic inability to metabolize alcohol like other races.
  
  

Stereotypes

• False attitudes and beliefs run rampant about Native Americans and alcoholism. Stereotypes of the drunk Indian go far back in history. It is true that many Native drinkers become extremely aggressive and, even violent, when under the influence of alcohol. These behaviors may have more to do with the poisonous effect alcohol has on them, however, than being the result of defective character.
  
  

Heredity

• Each of us has enzymes that help us to metabolize alcohol. White people, drinking a moderate amount of liquor, can metabolize it quickly. Native American's, drinking the same amount of alcohol, may metabolize it slower. Rates of metabolism are different among tribes because of biological differences. When someone is alcohol intolerant, they become intoxicated quickly. This may be a contributing factor, but only if considered in conjunction with cultural and socio-economic factors as well.
  
  

Implications

• The rate of alcoholism on reservations takes a toll on tribal communities. A cycle of poverty, unemployment and alcoholism plays out, contributing to further socio-cultural and economic decline on the reservation. The quality of life spirals downward due to alcohol-related health issues, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
  
  Fetal alcohol syndrome may affect as many as two out of every thousand children born on some reservations, leaving them with a lifetime of developmental and neurological problems.
  
  

Treatment

• All is not hopeless for tribal people. Education and treatment are valuable tools to help on the road to recovery from alcohol dependency. Family, community and other social supports are also needed. Alcoholism is an addiction and a genetically linked disease. It is also a social and cultural disease. Therefore, anyone that undergoes a treatment process must be ensured that the treatment approach addresses all of these factors.