Alcohol and Native Americans
[25] Aboriginal use of alcohol generally took place in shared spiritual experiences that often arose out of the shamanistic tradition and was invested with expectations of improved well-being, as opposed to individual enjoyment or entertainment.
[28][30] Evidence from Puerto Escondido dating to the formative stage of the Olmec Culture (1100-900 BC) indicates that a weak alcoholic beverage was made from fermented cacao pulp and stored in pottery containers.
[46] Elderly Aztecs who had reached the age of 70 and had raised families could drink as much as they wanted, as long as their children carried them home safely, keeping them covered up and "restraining and guiding" them so they would avoid "committing excesses and transgressions," and not fall "into a river or a hole.
Alcoholic intoxication was seen as an act of transcending the boundaries of human, divine and natural forces, one that should only be done by accomplished, brave and important members of society so as to avoid offending the supernatural world.
[51] The Coahuiltecan in Texas combined mountain laurel with agave sap to create an alcoholic drink similar to pulque, and the Zunis were believed to have made fermented beverages from aloe, maguey, corn, prickly pear, pitaya, and even grapes.
[24] In eastern North America the Creek of Georgia and Cherokee of the Carolinas used berries and other fruits to make alcoholic beverages,[52] and there is some evidence that the Huron made a mild beer by soaking corn in water to produce a fermented gruel to be consumed at tribal feasts.
[56] When Europeans began making a large quantity of distilled spirits and wine available to Native Americans, the tribes had very little time to adapt and develop social, legal, or moral guidelines to regulate alcohol use.
[21] Rum as well as brandy and other distilled beverages had become important trade items and essential elements in diplomatic councils, treaty negotiations, and political transactions, and had become part of Native American gift-giving rituals.
[65][66] Lemkin theorized that the availability of alcohol undermined social integrity, promoted violence, impeded organized resistance, and contributed to the belief that Native Americans were culturally inferior.
To evade federal laws prohibiting whites from selling alcohol to Indians, many traders (including Bent) married Native American women and were formally inducted into their tribes.
The Sauk warrior Black Hawk, (1767-1838), writes in his autobiography of the mistreatment of his people due to alcohol: Indian Agent Richard Cummins at Fort Leavenworth wrote: "it is ardent spirits that causes many of them to steal one from another, to kill one another in combats when drunk, [and] to neglect all kinds of business.
[77] Native Americans living in urban areas typically experience higher rates of alcohol use compared to other ethnicities as a result of acculturative stress directly and indirectly associated with historical trauma.
A series of local regulations were passed beginning as early as October 1701, when the Pennsylvania Assembly prohibited the sale of rum to the Indians,[80] however as the law was poorly enforced and the penalty was light—a fine of ten pounds and confiscation of any illegal supplies—rum continued to be used to barter for furs.
[81] In 1767, regulations adopted at the Augusta Conference in the Province of Georgia attempted to limit the amount of alcohol brought into Native American communities to no more than fifteen gallons of rum, although this referred mainly to the Creek, Cherokee and Catawba Indians.
An additional provision in the law mandated a "$1,000 fine for setting up and operating a distillery in Indian Country for manufacturing ardent spirits," to prevent entrepreneurs from making alcohol rather than importing it.
[22] In 1861 Commissioner William P. Dole reported: "Unprincipled traders, debarred by law from going upon the reservations, gather upon their borders, and by means of this traffic ... they filch from the Indian his little all, often reducing him to a state of utter want and destitution.
In United States v. Forty-Three Gallons of Whiskey, Associate Justice David Davis wrote the opinion of the court that If liquor is injurious to them inside of a reservation, it is equally so outside of it; and why cannot Congress forbid its introduction into a place near by, which they would be likely to frequent?
Initially, activists such as Peter Chartier, King Hagler and Little Turtle resisted the use of rum and brandy as trade items, in an effort to protect Native Americans from cultural changes they viewed as destructive.
Others such as Neolin, Kennekuk, Handsome Lake, Quanah Parker, and Wovoka led revitalization movements to restore Native American dignity by reverting to traditional customs and ceremonies.
[21] Modern-day addiction specialists like Don Coyhis integrate the psychology of substance use disorder treatment with traditional rituals and symbolism and with community rehabilitation to reduce stressors and help recovering alcoholics maintain a healthy lifestyle.
"[108] In her classic study on alcohol use among the Lakota Sioux,[109] anthropologist Beatrice Medicine found that as Native Americans were crowded onto reservations, men lost their traditional social role as providers and started drinking to alleviate their feelings of powerlessness.
She observed that Lakota women abstain from alcohol more frequently than men, or quit drinking once they bear children, due to strong cultural values associated with responsible motherhood.
Tribes in which social interactions and family structure were disrupted by modernization and acculturative stress (i.e., young people leaving the community to find work) had higher rates of alcohol use and misuse.
[15] Among Native American adolescents, alcohol and drug use are statistically associated with living on a reservation, dropping out of school, legal problems, antisocial behavior, and socializing with alcohol-using peers.
[123][124] Researchers have seen higher rates of academic failure, delinquency, violent criminal behavior, suicidality, and alcohol-related mortality among Native American youth than in the rest of the United States population.
Of 89 Native American adolescents admitted to a residential substance use treatment facility, only 25.3% came from a family with both biological parents present; 73% had been victims of physical or sexual abuse, 22.9% were not in school prior to their admission to this program, and 32.3% were referred by a judge or a court.
[162] Alcohol consumption among Native Americans has also been linked to targeted hate crimes, such as Indian rolling, the Anchorage paintball attacks, the Saskatoon freezing deaths, and cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
[168] Dietary practices in Mesoamerica differ from those of Native North American peoples, and some foods commonly consumed in Latin America may prevent some of the effects of chronic alcohol misuse.
[169] Soaking maize in alkaline "limewater," as in the traditional preparation of corn tortillas, frees niacin and folate for human biological use, (a process known as Nixtamalization) thus preventing alcohol-induced pellagra and macrocytic anemia.
[186] Many Native American clients find AA's model objectionable, however, due to the confessional nature of meetings, the encouragement of a critical attitude towards drinkers, and an emphasis on a Judeo-Christian conceptualization of God.
