| A colleague recently asked me for my assessment of | | | | all of the women have left, preferring the easier life |
| the applicability of the "disease model" of alcoholism | | | | available to them with non-Native husbands, college |
| with regard to Native Americans. She asked not only | | | | education, or city jobs. Who can blame them for |
| because my adopted children are Inyupik, and from | | | | leaving, or for the hopeless young men left behind |
| alcohol devastated families in northwestern Alaska, but | | | | from drowning their loneliness? |
| also because I have worked in non-traditional ways of | | | | In addition to personal and community factors there |
| combating alcohol abuse for over twenty years. | | | | are also political factors. Leadership within some Native |
| My answers have evolved out of the past forty years | | | | American entities, like other ethnic or religious entities, is |
| of my experience, work, observations, research, | | | | sometimes jealously held by families or individuals who |
| discussion, and reflection. | | | | see promoting alcohol abuse as a way of maintaining |
| To begin with, the repeatedly discredited "disease | | | | their positions and preventing rivals from threatening |
| model" negatively impacts everyone suffering from | | | | their power. "As long as they're drunks, and their |
| alcohol abuse - not just Native Americans; and second, | | | | children are drunks, my children's future is secure," is |
| "Native American" is also a counter-productive term, | | | | how one Fairbanks Athabascan matriarch put it to me |
| one implying that there is only one homogeneous group | | | | over twenty years ago, echoing her western Alaska |
| indigenous to North America. Nothing could be farther | | | | Yupik counterpart two decades before that. They |
| from the truth. | | | | were right. |
| To exemplify, Alaska alone, is home to three distinctly | | | | The unending problem, of course, is that alcohol also |
| different "Native" groups: Aleuts; the Yupiks and | | | | makes all of the problems it "solves" worse; providing |
| Inyupiks ("Eskimos"); and over twenty different "Indian" | | | | temporary fixes which preclude long term solutions. |
| tribes. Within and between these entities the degree of | | | | Depression that encourages alcohol abuse, while |
| alcohol use and abuse varies widely and so do | | | | making the depression worse, is only one of a number |
| solutions to their alcohol related problems." | | | | of short and long term "Catch 22" features of alcohol |
| However, it is true that across the continent, including | | | | misuse. |
| Alaska and Canada, Native Americans do exhibit a | | | | Returning to my colleague's original question, viewing |
| higher percentage of alcohol abuse and dependence | | | | alcohol abuse as a "disease" makes maintaining the |
| than many other groups, though again, not in every | | | | status quo easier for everyone. It obscures the real |
| case. Still, given the high incidence it's tempting to want | | | | problems and sidetracks everyone from seeking and |
| alcoholism to be a disease, rather than looking for | | | | implementing real solutions. |
| more complicated and less forgiving causes. However, | | | | On the other hand, if it's a choice, , then changing the |
| regardless of the group being considered, alcohol | | | | habits of use and abuse becomes matters of individual, |
| abuse and dependence rates really are a reflection of | | | | family, community, and political choice. Predictably, |
| an accumulation of contributing social, psychological, | | | | however, there aren't a lot of people anxious to sign |
| biological, and cultural factors. | | | | up for responsibility when being a victim is so much |
| Consider for a moment one such factor: that alcohol | | | | more appealing, at least for today. After all, having a |
| use is frequently a matter of learned behaviors based | | | | disease over which I am powerless is the perfect |
| on community and cultural expectations. Most of us | | | | excuse to keep on drinking. Changing, on the other |
| adopt alcohol use, and abuse, as patterns from our | | | | hand, requires a sustained effort along with the |
| family, our community, and society at large. Who | | | | acceptance of responsibility for one's own situation |
| introduced alcohol to Native Americans? Prospectors, | | | | and decisions. |
| whalers, soldiers, and others whose immoderate | | | | The picture I have painted in this brief essay is, of |
| alcohol "use" is now reflected in many of today's | | | | course, a simplification - a picture that includes only |
| Native American's usage, and these stereotypical | | | | some of the major factors that contribute to the |
| patterns continue to be handed down from one | | | | ongoing destruction of what? Nor have I discussed the |
| generation to the next. | | | | individuals, communities, and tribal groups who have |
| Of course these learned behaviors could be changed | | | | successfully navigated through alcohol's traps and |
| if they weren't serving a purpose, which, unfortunately, | | | | temptations and achieved a sober and satisfactory life. |
| they do. For example, in many cases being drunk is a | | | | Many more could, and would, with social and political |
| readily accepted excuse to diverge from cultural | | | | supports that addressed the underlying needs and |
| norms - an excuse to act out aggressively rather than | | | | factors from a realistic perspective. |
| adhering to a passive conformity, for example. | | | | Is that apt to happen? Not as long as "treatment" |
| Community members hesitate to criticize someone for | | | | reinforces the hopelessness and powerlessness that |
| getting drunk and acting out this week when they may | | | | that failed industry provides and depends upon. Not as |
| themselves want to get drunk and do the same next | | | | long as leaders externalize the causes they profit from |
| week. (Again, however, please remember that this isn't | | | | financially and politically rather than addressing the real |
| a pattern unfamiliar to many other communities.) | | | | needs, problems, and attitudes which support continued |
| Drinking is also a way of achieving some temporary | | | | alcohol dependence. Not as long as "alcoholism" is |
| respite from crowded living arrangements that don't | | | | seen as a cause rather than a symptom. Not as long |
| allow for any privacy. Thirty years ago my neighbor on | | | | as being a victim is preferable to assuming |
| the upper Yukon was one of eight people occupying a | | | | responsibility for ourselves and for our communities. |
| cabin roughly fifteen by twenty feet - a cabin without | | | | Clearly, alcohol abuse is not a disease, and the |
| electricity, running water, or any distractions. Who could | | | | solutions - including real assessment of individuals and |
| blame him for disappearing into an alcohol induced | | | | communities; the provision of active opportunities |
| stupor from time to time? | | | | vocationally, socially, and recreationally; and the |
| Alcohol also helps blot out the depression and | | | | refutation of a passive "disease" mentality - are no |
| frustration that comes from a seemingly hopeless | | | | different for Native Americans than they are for the |
| future. In many communities the most capable people | | | | rest of us. But it requires the courage to acknowledge |
| have left, pursuing educational, vocational, and social | | | | the mistakes of the past, to implement real change, |
| opportunities. Generations have seen a steady decline | | | | and to withstand the objections and sabotaging of |
| in leadership, stability, and ability. In some cases, nearly | | | | those who profit from business as usual. |