The ¡°white man¡± is largely responsible for introducing American Indians to alcohol, promoting intemperance (Winkler, 1968; Indian Health Service, 1997), and taking advantage of Native Americans in business and social transactions (Unrau, 1996).
Accounts of Native Americans' drunkenness must be read with the understanding that they were written by White men (MacAndrew & Edgerton, 1969).
Tribal leaders became very concerned about alcohol problems, and the federal government instituted prohibition on reservations in 1832. It was not repealed until1953. Prohibition may have contributed to gulping and binge drinking (Indian Health Service, 1977).
Tribal councils now determine alcohol control policies on their lands with about 60% maintaining prohibition. (Office of Justice Programs, 2000). Though well intentioned, traffic accidents and deaths from freezing may occur as people leave to get alcohol (May, 1982).
Differences in drinking practices across tribes may be due to their social and cultural traditions, means of livelihood, and losses like displacement from their homelands (Beauvais, 1998; Stratton et al., 1978; Weaver, 2001).
The unproven belief that Native Americans have a particular physiological susceptibility to alcohol remains strong even among native people (May & Moran, 1997).
Many people contend that social conditions (forced acculturation, degradation, extreme poverty) are primary factors in Native Americans' drinking (Littman, 1970).
Some provocative descriptions of American Indians' drinking are defiance against Whites (Lewis (1982) or a way to distinguish Indians from Whites (Lurie, 1979).
Drunkenness and associated behaviors contrast sharply with Native Americans' values of spirituality and harmony (Oetting et al., 1982; Weibel, 1982).
In contrast to alcohol, Native Americans have used the hallucinogenic drug peyote in religious ceremonies with few negative consequences (Bergman, 1771).
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