Native American Alcoholism

While most families gathering together today couldn't care less about Pilgrims or Indians, it is important to place today's "Thanksgiving" celebration in historical context. Such an effort would reveal that the implications and effects of the relationship between the Native Americans and the first European Settlers, in many ways, are still with us today. And the legacy of that relationship has been a devastating one for the American Indian.

The true history of the Native American experience is ignored, obscured and marginalized in this country's public education system and by historians and scholars of various races, creeds and colors. And the connection between that history and the living conditions and socioeconomic problems that plague many Native Americans today is a dynamic that most Americans "don't have time for".

Well, today we offer a look at a historical look at a seldom-explored subject: Native American alcoholism and its genesis.

We guarantee that 99.9% of those celebrating today are not thinking about this problem though they will be thinking of and seeing the imagery of Pilgrims and Indians all day long.

Please read:

American Indian Alcoholism's Dark Past & Uncertain Future

Cedric Muhammad

Thursday, November 23, 2000