The Impact of Alcoholism on the Native American Population
1
Arjun Panyam
The issue I chose to research is alcohol abuse within the Native American demographic.
Alcoholism has historically had a negative impact on the Native American demographic due to a
variety of factors. My objective for this research was to define alcoholism and its prevalence within
the Native American community, establish a context through which one could recognize
alcoholism as a major problem within this community, and to highlight the changes needed to
recover from such a debilitating illness. I sought various resources, such as scholarly articles,
books, and journals in order to examine the culture of Native Americans and distinguish cultural
factors that makes this demographic more prone to alcoholism.
I first decided to start my research with the issue of alcoholism, primarily on its definition.
Alcoholism has historically been perceived in different ways, and still does to this day. I was
mindful of this, and managed to assort the parameters in which one is considered to display
symptoms of alcoholism. These parameters include a negative impact on one’s employment or a
student’s work, strain on marital, family, and other interpersonal relationships, legal problems, and
medical complications, such as liver cirrhosis and pancreatitis. With the nature of this disease in
my mind, I researched its association with the Native American community, observing how
rampant it was and continues to be. I found out how Native Americans in particular have been
afflicted by this disease through various statistics, such as the fact that 18 percent of all Native
Americans exhibited signs of alcoholism.
After defining the problem of alcoholism as well as its problematic role in the Native
American community, I attempted to establish the context in which its prevalence occurs. I sought
to distinguish factors that led to the strong correlation between alcohol abuse and being Native
American. I found out that many Native Americans have historically exhibited high rates of
The Impact of Alcoholism on the Native American Population
2
poverty and depression, and also suffer from financial instability and unemployment. Native
Americans have also historically suffered great hardship in the form of poverty, famine, and war.
European colonization greatly devastated the Native American quality of life, leading to historical
inclination to alcohol abuse. Alcohol is also a relatively new substance to the Native American
demographic. While Europeans have been exposed to for thousands of years, it only recently
became part of commerce in the Native American community over the past several centuries.
I ended my research with the focus on recovery from alcoholism, and seeing how it could
be applied to the lives of Native Americans. I observed how structure and stability were crucial in
achieving any shred of recovery, and the reason why so many Native Americans suffered from
addiction was due to the lack of either. Historically, Native Americans have been oppressed
socially, economically, and politically by European colonists. Many suffer from poverty and
discrimination, making the battle with the bottle even harder to overcome. The best way to
facilitate recovery is to reconnect and grow closer towards one’s own culture and people as well
as with one’s own family. Alienation plays a large role in addiction, so it’s not surprising that
recovery is largely a social process. The Alcoholics Anonymous system of group discussions,
sponsors, and recognition of sobriety all proved to be effective methods for combating any form
of substance addiction, including alcohol abuse.
Definition of the Problem
An alcoholic exhibits several symptoms indicating their abuse of and dependence upon
alcohol. An alcoholic has trouble maintaining a decent enough work ethic to either hold a steady
job, pay bills and taxes on time, or to do well in school. Interpersonal relationships, one’s
standing with the law, and one’s health all suffer drastically when alcohol is abused. Factors
exhibited by many Native Americans that make one prone to drinking, such as financial
instability, stress, and racial inequality have all been attributed to the heavy use of alcohol within
this demographic. Native Americans today are statistically more likely to abuse alcohol, leading
researchers to attribute social and historical factors to drinking. I used several sources to research
this topic in order to explain the source of this phenomenon. These sources include a personal
The Impact of Alcoholism on the Native American Population
3
account of a former alcoholic, a book focusing on problem drinking, and articles that depict the
historical context of alcohol and Native Americans. These sources showed me how one’s
environment plays a major role in their likelihood of developing the disease.
Gallant, D. (1987). Definition and Diagnosis. In Alcoholism: A guide to diagnosis, intervention,
and treatment (pp. 1-12). New York: Norton.
This book focuses upon this medical condition of alcoholism from a medical, social, and
pharmacological standpoint. This book also attempts to inform the reader on the negative impact
of alcoholism as well as how to diagnose and prevent it. The chapter provides guidelines one
what constitutes an alcoholic, showing that alcoholics are those characterized by deficits in
employment, marital and family life, interpersonal relationships, legal standing, and health.
This source in very informative in explaining alcoholism. I will use the source to learn about the
nature of the disease, the parameters of its definition, and the scope of its impact. A limitation of
this study is that the book was published in 1987, thus limiting the accuracy and how up to date
the information in this book is. This book is a scholarly source since it was written by a reputable
person, Donald M. Gallant. Gallant was a Professor of Psychiatry and an Adjunct Professor of
Pharmacology at Tulane University as well as a Medical Director of the Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Unit of Southeast Louisiana Hospital.
Ghosh, P. (2012, February 11). Native Americans: The Tragedy of Alcoholism. Retrieved March
20, 2015, from http://www.ibtimes.com/native-americans-tragedy-alcoholism-214046
This article focuses upon an incident in which Native Americans of the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation filed a 500-million dollar lawsuit against beer manufacturers for the negative impact
alcohol caused on the community for many years. Shocking statistics in the article showed how
prominent alcoholism is within this community, such as the fact that “one-fourth of the tribe’s
children suffer from fetal disorders related to their parents’ alcoholism”, “one in 10 Native
American deaths is alcohol-related” and “The unemployment rate is above 80 percent.”
This source highlights how Native Americans suffer from relatively very high rates of
alcoholism. A variety of statistics were used to convey the gravity of alcoholism in the
demographic. One limitation of this source is that it mainly focused on a single Native American
community rather than the whole demographic, yet still provided statistics for Native Americans
as a whole. This article is a scholarly source since Palash Ghosh, a business journalist with 21
years of experience and reputable writer, wrote it.
Context of the Problem
When examining alcoholism in Native Americans, a variety of factors must be examined
as well. These factors include the historical relationship between Native Americans and alcohol
as well as factors that make one prone to alcoholism exhibited by Native Americans, such as low
socioeconomic standing, high rates of depression, and overall stability in the community. Native
Americans are compared to other races in my research in order to establish a context in which
Native Americans as a demographic are seen as problem drinkers, and how aspects of their
culture led to this phenomenon.
Schwarz, A. (2013, May 11). Overcoming Addiction, Professor Tackles Perils American Indians
Face. The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2015, from
The Impact of Alcoholism on the Native American Population
4
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/us/professor-ex-addict-confronts-perils-american-indiansface.html?_r=0
This source is an article from the New York Times that tells the story of a recovered drug addict
and alcoholic. He now has a PhD in the study of substance abuse, and spoke to members in the
Native American communities about the perils of substance abuse. According to the article,
about 18 percent of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives abuse drugs. Dr. Patterson, who
suffered from years of drug abuse in his twenties, had his life chronicled in this article, indicating
that he had his despondent father, Native American heritage, and early experimenting with drugs
all attributed to the culmination of his addiction. Dr. Patterson is an example of a sufferer of
drug abuse, showing people how it’s possible to conquer your demons and come out on top.
This source portrays a man who, at one point in his life, was a negative statistic. The in depth
characterization shows how drug abuse is almost never planned, but rather prone to occur
depending on the circumstances. This article is useful in providing a context for alcoholism, a
form of substance abuse, by providing an intimate depiction of how it can ravage one’s life. One
limitation of this source is that it focuses on a single person rather than a group, limiting the
social scope of observation. This article is a scholarly source since it was written by Alan
Schwarz, multi-award winning journalist who has written for the New York Times.
Bachman, J., Wallace, J., O'Malley, P., Johnston, L., Kurth, C., & Neighbors, H. (n.d.).
Racial/Ethnic Differences In Smoking, Drinking, And Illicit Drug Use Among American High
School Seniors, 1976-89. American Journal of Public Health, 372-377.
This source is a study from the American Journal of Public Health, in which racial and ethnic
differences were compared to smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use. The sample used for the
study consisted of American high school seniors. The study used surveys to gather data,
collecting such data from 1976 to 1989. The results of the study showed that Native American
youth had “the highest prevalence rates for cigarettes, alcohol, and most illicit drugs; White
students had the next highest rates for most drugs. Asian Americans had the lowest prevalence
rates, and Black students had levels nearly as low except for marijuana.”
This source compares Native American drug use, in this instance of American high school
seniors, with those of other races. This study showed how drug use among Native Americans is
relatively high by surveying multiple races. This journal article is useful since it expands the
scope of my research on Native American alcoholism by showing how drug use as a whole is
highest amongst the Native Americans. This study establishes a context of alcoholism within the
Native American demographic by showing how Native Americans are inherently more prone to
substance abuse than other races or ethnic groups. One limitation of this article is that it only
focuses on Native American youth rather than adults, thus limiting the scope of my research.
This source is a scholarly source since it was published in the American Journal of Public
Health.
Current Interventions Addressing the Problem
The Impact of Alcoholism on the Native American Population
5
A factor in the prevalence of alcoholism in the Native American demographic is the lack
of practical intervention and counseling needed to pave the path of recovery. Native Americans
have historically relied on their family for guidance, viewing them as an intermediate between
them and the spiritual world. Although Native Americans have traditionally had close ties with
friends and family, they have often never been provided guidance to recover from alcoholism.
Counseling has long been one of the most efficient ways to cure the disease, especially within
the Native American demographic, a demographic that has historically had a collectivistic set of
ideals.
Westermeyer, J., & Peake, E. (1983). A ten-year follow-up of alcoholic Native Americans in Minnesota.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 140(2), 189-194. Retrieved March 20, 201, from American Journal of
Psychiatry.
This source is a journal article consisting of a study that tracked the lives of 45 alcoholic American
Indians after 10 years, 42 of which were located. According to the study, after 10 years, “Seven had
been abstinent for 2 or more years, 26 still had drinking problems despite repeated treatment, and 9
had died.” The authors found that the recovered individuals more often had relatively stable
employment, marital relationships, interpersonal relationships, and lesser raters of depression. All these
factors were linked to increasing the likelihood of recovery.
This source highlighted various lifestyle choices that allowed one to get clean from the addiction, such as
strong familial and interpersonal ties as well as marriage. This journal article analyzed the likelihood of
recovery of addiction, and focused primarily on the recovery aspect of the addiction rather than the
addiction itself. One limitation of this source is that it was published in 1983, thus limiting the accuracy
of assessing certain factors in the study, such as psychiatric history and the multifaceted nature of one’s
addiction. This article is a scholarly article since it was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Garrett, M., & Carroll, J. (2000). Mending the Broken Circle: Treatment of Substance Dependence
Among Native Americans. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78(4), 379-388.
This source is a journal article that recommends various methods of recovery from substance
dependence for primarily Native Americans, citing practical counseling, such as Alcoholics Anonymous,
as an effective method. This article also informs the reader how Native Americans are predisposed to
substance abuse and how they can rely on traditional Native American values and counseling to
overcome addiction and successfully recover. This article states that family and community are
important and very influential, often ironically leading one to commit to early substance use due to peer
pressure. Native American values are illustrated in this article, showing how recovery is only possible
through collaboration with and support from one’s own community.
This source showed how family and culture play an important role in recovery. Overall stability is
important when one decides to make a drastic change for the better, evidenced by values that the
Alcoholic Anonymous program has found success in. One limitation of this article is that it never
expanded upon methods that would be useful for sufferers of substance abuse in other races, since the
article was focused mainly on Native Americans. This article is a scholarly source since it was published
in the Journal of Counseling and Development.
The Impact of Alcoholism on the Native American Population
6