The Most Common Misconceptions Of Native Americans

Can you name a specific contemporary issue concerning the Native American population? Most people can’t, considering that a lot of issues involving Native Americans are ignored. The Native Americans have been faced with many issues; many of them being present day problems, and not just about colonization and not just being forced from the land that they had been living on for generations. One of these issues is alcoholism.

It is a common misconception that Native Americans were first introduced to alcohol by the Europeans. Although it is true that many Native American societies never consumed alcohol before Europeans, various tribes had been producing their own alcohol for thousands of years (Melissa). The alcohol they made was weaker than
It is believed that the Pueblos and Zunis were to have made fermented beverages from aloe, maguey, corn, pitahaya, grapes, and prickly pear (Melissa). The Coahuiltecan in Texas used the combination of Agave and mountain larel to make an alcoholic drink (Melissa). There is evidence that the Cherokee of the Carolinas and the Creek of Georgia used wild berries to make alcohol, as well as the Aleuts and Yuit of Alaska, despite having little to no agriculture (Alcohol and Native Americans). There is also evidence that the Huron made a light beer out of corn (Alcohol and Native
First what must be tackled is the source of the alcohol. A good example of this would be that earlier this year, Nebraska Officials revoked the licenses of four liquor stores that were surrounding Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota (Schaefer Riley). Although the reservation was supposed to be a dry reservation, but it’s members still purchased alcohol from these stores, so tribal officials argued that if these liquor stores closed, the high rate of alcohol abuse would diminish due to the limited access to alcohol (Schaefer Riley). Although they feel as though this won’t completely solve the problem due to the size of the reservation (3,500 square miles), it is still a step in the process of controlling the use of alcohol (Schaefer Riley). A similar step like this could be followed by other tribal communities and reservations to help at least control the use of alcohol and to keep it to a minimum, however it does seem like it will be a somewhat difficult task. Another way to eradicate this issue would be to educate communities and treat those who are effected. According to Sunrise House, the best way to treat substance abuse would be to acknowledge the importance of Native American culture and spiritual conditions in recovery and healing, engage family and community members in the process of treatment, providing support