ALCOHOL AND SUICIDE AMONG NATIVE AMERICANS

A Reflective OpinionBy:Jaime Dimmick-Frame

Suicide

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I mean, the thing is, plenty of Indians have died because they were drunk. And plenty of Indians have killed other drunken Indians. Pg. 158

Alcohol-related deaths among Native Americans ages 15-24 are 17 times higher than the national averages. The suicide rate for Native American youth is three times the national average.

Alcohol

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Way drunk, Eugene was shot and killed by one of his good friends, Bobby, who was too drunk to even remember pulling the trigger. Pg. 169

Towns like Whiteclay Nebraska exist purely to sell alcohol to Indians of the Pine Ridge reservation who can not buy alcohol on the reservation.

Suicide

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A few weeks later, in jail, Bobby hung himself with a bed-sheet. Pg. 171

Native youths kill themselves at a rate nearly twice the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Alcohol

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My father went on a legendary drinking binge. My mother went to church everyday. It was all booze and God, booze and God, booze and God. We’d lost my grandmother and Eugene. How much loss were we supposed to endure? Pg. 171

Mental health services are not easily accessible to American Indians and Alaska Natives, due to: lack of funding, culturally inappropriate

services, and mental health

professional shortages and high turnover.

For these reasons, Native Americans tend to underutilize mental health services and discontinue therapy.

Suicide

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I felt helpless and stupid. Pg. 171

The reasons (for suicide) are many. Experts point to depression, isolation, substance abuse, broken families, the pain of historical tragedies and a lack of mental health support on rural reservations.

Alcohol

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“The police say your sister never even woke up,” my father said. “She was way too drunk.” Pg. 205

When compared with other racial and ethnic groups, American Indian/Alaska Native youth have more serious problems with mental health disorders related to suicide, such as anxiety, substance abuse, and depression.

Stereotypes

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OF COURSE THEY HAD A PARTY! OF COURSE THEY WERE DRUNK! THEY’RE INDIANS! Pg. 205

The ongoing presence of the noble savage stereotype has created a schism in America over associations of the American Indian and alcohol.

My Two Cents

It is amazing to me the amount of tragedy and pain that Native Americans have endured. Pain inflicted on each other and themselves, and the loss that comes with all of that pain…loss of family, loss of friends, loss of power, loss of social status, loss of self, ect. Although I find it super sad, and can only pretend to imagine what it must be like to bear that amount of suffering, I also think that some of the stereotypes that exist, were not made up…they came from somewhere and there was/is some truth to the stigma. Having said that, I am not sure what Native people, as a collective group, would have to do to eliminate the stereotypes that probably haunt them. Regardless of the label, there is no doubt that Natives have much to endure, and hopefully overcome, so that they will not add to the incredibly high statistics. By being aware and understanding the information provided about Natives, I am hopeful that I will better understand Native students to become a better teacher.

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