Alcoholism is a crippling addiction that plagues many individuals, and is also quite a difficult dependence to break away from. Along with alcoholism comes many stereotypes: one of the most prominent being the “Drunk Indian.” This stereotype paints the Indian people as a culture that relies on alcohol to function in everyday life. The alcoholic Native American stereotype is only bolstered by the firewater myth which claims that Native peoples are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol and are more likely to become addicted to the substance. These two concepts amplify one another leading to more problems with alcohol abuse for the Native American people. In Ceremony, Silko illustrates the struggles a Native American faces every day and demonstrates
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Among the numerous factors that contribute to the Native American people’s turn to alcohol, mistreatment of their people and culture is a large contributing component. “The steamrolling effect of the ‘civilized society’ upon the Indian people” has forced not only the displacement of thousands of people, but also the disrespect of a culture’s customs and way of living (French and Hornbuckle 275). In the early days of colonization, the Native Americans were forced to adapt to a completely different society than the Native people had grown up living. The Native American way of learning, “that of legends, how to live, how to respect themselves, and others,” was completely discarded by the “white society” and replaced with reading, writing, and arithmetic (French and Hornbuckle 275). The introduction of these forms of learning could have greatly helped the native American people; but, since these disciplines were forced upon them with no prior teaching or involvement by the Natives or the colonists, the Native people were, essentially, ripped from their roots and thrust into a societal system in which they could not thrive. Thus, since the …show more content…
Facilities on or near Native American reservations tend to be smaller hospitals which, in turn, also have less supplies for the people that seek treatment. According to a study on the use of hospital resources, “small hospitals had seen approximately 25% of their inpatient resources used for ARD hospitalizations” (Erickson and Hisnanick 393). The acronym “ARD” stands for an “alcohol related diagnosis” (Erickson and Hisnanick 387). According to this same study, “the Indian Health Service discharge rates for ARD were three times greater than reported ARD discharge rates for the United States civilian population;” and the study also noted that “ARD period utilization varies inversely with hospital size” (Erickson and Hisnanick 387-8, 93). So, not only are a decent portion of the Native American people’s medical incidences related to the use of alcohol, but these circumstances also use a substantial percentage of the small amount of medical supplies allocated to smaller healthcare facilities. By using so many resources for problems stemming from alcohol abuse, these small hospitals are “clearly expending considerable resources in providing for ARD admissions to a population that is not a high user of inpatient services;” and the probability of another person suffering, or even dying, from other severe injuries becomes even
Among the numerous factors that contribute to the Native American people’s turn to alcohol, mistreatment of their people and culture is a large contributing component. “The steamrolling effect of the ‘civilized society’ upon the Indian people” has forced not only the displacement of thousands of people, but also the disrespect of a culture’s customs and way of living (French and Hornbuckle 275). In the early days of colonization, the Native Americans were forced to adapt to a completely different society than the Native people had grown up living. The Native American way of learning, “that of legends, how to live, how to respect themselves, and others,” was completely discarded by the “white society” and replaced with reading, writing, and arithmetic (French and Hornbuckle 275). The introduction of these forms of learning could have greatly helped the native American people; but, since these disciplines were forced upon them with no prior teaching or involvement by the Natives or the colonists, the Native people were, essentially, ripped from their roots and thrust into a societal system in which they could not thrive. Thus, since the …show more content…
Facilities on or near Native American reservations tend to be smaller hospitals which, in turn, also have less supplies for the people that seek treatment. According to a study on the use of hospital resources, “small hospitals had seen approximately 25% of their inpatient resources used for ARD hospitalizations” (Erickson and Hisnanick 393). The acronym “ARD” stands for an “alcohol related diagnosis” (Erickson and Hisnanick 387). According to this same study, “the Indian Health Service discharge rates for ARD were three times greater than reported ARD discharge rates for the United States civilian population;” and the study also noted that “ARD period utilization varies inversely with hospital size” (Erickson and Hisnanick 387-8, 93). So, not only are a decent portion of the Native American people’s medical incidences related to the use of alcohol, but these circumstances also use a substantial percentage of the small amount of medical supplies allocated to smaller healthcare facilities. By using so many resources for problems stemming from alcohol abuse, these small hospitals are “clearly expending considerable resources in providing for ARD admissions to a population that is not a high user of inpatient services;” and the probability of another person suffering, or even dying, from other severe injuries becomes even