Why do so many Native Americans end up alcoholics?

I thought they smoked peyote.

It's genetic in that they don't have sufficient liver enzymes to process alcohol and their brain chemistry makes them alcoholics even if they never touch a drink in their life.

Well, you don't smoke peyote to do it, but some tribes still respect hallucinogens. Just seems like a lot end up extremely dependent on alcohol. The hard stuff, 80+ proof.

What Brief said. They were only introduced to alcohol 200 years ago, therefore not having the ability to process alcohol through their livers.
The rest of the world has had many hundred of years to evolve our livers to take on excessive consumption.

I imagine its like 1 beer = 10 bears to a native.

Interesting. But you'd think they'd get hammered off just a little bit and not kill a fifth in a few hours.

That's where the chemistry of their brain comes in. Once they start drinking they just keep drinking.

weak D6D gene

I see. Maybe that explains my ex and her inability to stop drinking once she started.

I once saw a whole study on this. They mostly chalked it up to boredom, cause what else are you going to do on the reservation. With generations addicted, the next one just comes along, too.

Why do they put tons of liquor stores in the Ghetto

Usually the answers are right in front of us

Coming from a line of Cherokee's I have wondered this myself.


As for me, my German/Cherokee heritage has given me seemingly super human abilities in that I am nearly immune to the effects of Alcohol.

I don't even drink a beer that is less than 9% it is a waste of my time.

I don't bother with anything that is under 100 proof unless its vodka if I intend to actually get buzzed. I mostly quit drinking alcohol due to this.

In my early 20s I did not understand... I could and would polish off 16-20 beers a 750ml of tequila and around a 1/2 gallon of rum in a few hours and I would remain mostly unaffected.... so i would go drink more, trying to get some kinda of buzz going and then this point comes that you have just had so much that your body can't handle it and down you go.


I think a lot of Native Americans may be like this, drink a ton and nothing nothing nothing....black out drunk.


Thus they drink a lot and get addicted to the stuff, I was at least smart enough to figure out after a few years that Alcohol was just not for me and if I am going to do it, I need to get something strong and slam one, then sip on the second to maintain a decent buzz.

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Last Edited by vind21 on 11/30/2015 04:57 PM

You would be an alcoholic too if you lived in paradise and were invaded by a cancer that destroyed everything you held sacred,namely the planet.

Why single out the Native people when talking about alcoholics? I'm sure there are also many white/black/etc who are alcoholics worldwide. Consider the # of native population... then now try consider the population of white/black/etc over worldwide.. then im sure the statistical number would go up, but in the end all altogether and their abnormal rely on alochol are likely or probably for to deal with depression and or complex problems. The alcohol drinks can be obtainable and have effects of which they thought would be easy to deal with their problems.

Maybe at first it was for morale or entertainment, then when problems appear in their life.. sometimes some of them turn to alcohol drinks to deal with that.. in such instantly and temporarily way. Then it could sometimes become a habitual cycle.

no, the stats for natives is much different than other races, and it's genetic

Because there is an obvious disproportionate number of hardliner truly alcoholic people of native american descent, stereo types exist for a reason.

When I go a see my rather well to do Native American side, 40% of them are true alcoholics, another 20% a functioning alcoholics and the rest of them just don't ever really drink.

Actually, they lack the biochemistry to process dairy and alcohol properly.

only whites can process cow milk well, and it tends to go away with age

They are not able to get jobs often. Racism in Montana is bad. People won't hire them. The schools rarely hire them as a example. They are aprox 5% of the montana population and it is rare they can land a job in the school systems one of many examples. The schools are often the towns largest employer. They do not abuse any more than whites in Montana but do suffer from not getting treatment. The judicial system is unfair towards Indians.

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The bodies of different ethnic types process alcohol differently depending upon the type of alcohol that was traditional in the area where that ethnic type lived for hundreds of years. Certain genotypes can more easily process brown liquors, others more easily clear liquors ... it just depends what was the type that was traditionally produced in THAT area.

In the Native American's case their societies did NOT have alcohol of any sort, though they did use other plants and herbs as mind altering substances. As a result their internal organs did not develop a way to easily neutralize and process out alcohol, and their brain chemistry never got the "stop" gene imbedded into it so as to limit their consumption of alcohol when they did drink.

Indians with a mixed genetic background probably have a much higher tolerance for alcohol than other Indians. I have know a few almost pure blooded Indians that couldn't have a single drink without becoming crazy drunk. Their bodies just could not physically handle alcohol.

Just like skin color, hair color, eye color etc. are external genetic traits there are also internal genetic traits for different ethnic groups ... and for Native Americans one of those genetic traits is alcohol intolerance.

There is also the fact that we dont metabolize sugar like other races(another proof besides my dna report, on why we are not asian). We are genetic diabetics and genetic alcoholics. My german father insisted my indian mom bring us up on a sugar and low wheat diet.we had developed tons of wonderful starches of our own, corn and potatoes for instance, but no bread, no wheat. Wild rice was actually the most healthy and complete food in the world and full of b vitimens.We were warned never to take one drop of alcohol. this was reinforced by the cath. school nuns who understood us and even understood we were right brain dominent and adjusted their teaching methods to that creative bounty.
But remember, although we escaped this up north,most indian families for one hunderd years here and in canada had their children removed at age four or five and shipped hunderds of miles away to Indian "boarding schools"/I have photos of the special tiny handcuffs made specially for that.

Their hair was cut and to us that means a close relative died. some died of malnutrition, some of tb or disease. Some sold to farmers as adoptees (free farm labor) or given to university medical school for studies. Millions never went home. Those who did, no longer spoke the language of their parents,which was beaten out of them in school. They didnt remember their Indian names, their parents names or their clan. Ten years later, Dumped off at dusty roads near res with teepees to a people they had been taught were heathen, they huddled in the dust as the wagons left,while the people decided who they might belong to and leftover children were just taken in by tribal people with no children. Later the mothers tatooed the babies heels. The reservations were all DRY but right outside, the whites built bars and liguor stores. the stuff was dirt cheap. The parents whose babies were gone drank away their sorrow, the ones coming back to a nightmare of less food no jobs, locked up on a rez tortured by "townies" with no justice...they drank. Now add in Fetal alcohol syndrome...and later, death by cars.depression. See the movie 'THunderhawk"(?) with sam shepherd for a good look at it.We couldnt vote till 1926 but were drafted. In canada, if a status indian fought for his country he lost all rights and status cards...we didnt have freedom of religion until 1974. THats a PARTIAL list of why alot of my poor tribal people drink.

This. Genetic disposition to alcoholism or drugs. They just can't stop.

In spite of all that, the tribe that I'm most familiar with are fanatic Federal govt supporters and nearly all are Baptists.

coded in our genes

This too.

Lack of an enzyme (sorry, it's been awhile), that helps break down alcohol. Asians have a similar problem, but not as bad as Native Americans.

Makes me think they were purposely targeted with alcohol early in US history.

Perfect explanation.

Can't handle the white man's fire water.

On the same note Eskimos can process fat better, especially seal blubber.

the children were taken away when young, abused, not allowed to talk their native tongue--the lives of their parents were destroyed

try losing everything and being treated like an animal

see how you fare

Native Mexicans in the North of Mexico have same problem.
They have a close link with Native Americans so not suprise.
They have a ban for any alcohol beverage in their territories....however they make their own corn beverage to get drunk .
Life finds the way !!