Alcohol and Native Americans
Many Native Americans in the United States have been harmed by, or become addicted to, drinking alcohol. Among contemporary Native Americans and Alaska Natives, 11.7% of all deaths are related to alcohol. By comparison, about 5.9% of global deaths are attributable to alcohol consumption. Because of negative stereotypes and biases based on race and social class, generalizations and myths abound around the topic of Native American alcohol misuse.
A survey of death certificates from 2006 to 2010 showed that deaths among Native Americans due to alcohol are about four times as common as in the general U.S. population. They are often due to traffic collisions and liver disease, with homicide, suicide, and falls also contributing. Deaths related to alcohol among Native Americans are more common in men and among Northern Plains Indians. Alaska Natives showed the lowest incidence of alcohol-related death. Alcohol misuse amongst Native Americans has been shown to be associated with development of disease, including hearing and vision problems, kidney and bladder problems, head injuries, pneumonia, tuberculosis, dental problems, liver problems, and pancreatitis. In some tribes, the rate of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is as high as 1.5 to 2.5 per 1,000 live births, more than seven times the national average, while among Alaska Natives, the rate of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is 5.6 per 1,000 live births.
Native American and Native Alaskan youth are far more likely to experiment with alcohol at a younger age than non-Native youth. Low self-esteem and transgenerational trauma have been associated with substance use disorders among Native American teens in the U.S. and Canada. Alcohol education and prevention programs have focused on raising self-esteem, emphasizing traditional values, and recruiting Native youth to advocate for abstinence and healthy substitution.
Historically, those Native American tribes who manufactured alcoholic drinks used them and other mind-altering substances in ritual settings and rarely for personal enjoyment. Liquor was unknown until introduced by Europeans, therefore alcohol dependence was largely unknown when European contact was made. The use of alcohol as a trade item and the practice of intoxication for fun, or to alleviate stress, gradually undermined traditional Native American culture until by the late 18th century, alcoholism was recognized as a serious problem in many Native American communities. Native American leaders campaigned with limited success to educate Native Americans about the dangers of drinking and intoxication. Legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol to Native Americans generally failed to prevent alcohol-related social and health problems, and discriminatory legislation was abandoned in the 1950s in favor of laws passed in Native American communities by Native Americans. Modern treatment focuses on culturally appropriate strategies that emphasize traditional activities designed to promote spiritual harmony and group solidarity.
History
Pre-Columbian Native Americans fermented starchy seeds and roots as well as fruits from both wild and domesticated plants. Among the most common are drinks made from fermented corn, agave, and manioc. Aboriginal use of alcohol generally took place in shared spiritual experiences that often arose out of the shamanistic tradition and was invested with expectations of improved well-being, as opposed to individual enjoyment or entertainment.Before contact, Native Americans used mind-altering substances to communicate with the spirit world, and intoxication was "associated with a quest for enlightenment, powers of healing, and the facilitation of war-making. the new phenomenon of intoxication... to the old concepts of dreaming, communion with the spirit world, and the acquisition of power." Aberrant behavior while intoxicated was frequently forgiven as though the drinker had been possessed by powers beyond their control.
Influence of Mesoamerica
Pre-Columbian Mesoamericans in Mexico and Central America prepared over forty different alcoholic beverages from a variety of plants and plant extracts. Traditional Mayan beverages have included:- Balché, made from the bark of Lonchocarpus violaceus soaked in honey and water and fermented.
- Xtabentún, made from honey produced from the nectar of a species of morning glory .
- Coyol wine or chicha de coyol, made from the sap of coyol palms.
- Colonche, made with the fruits of Opuntia streptacantha.
- Tepache, made from the peel and rind of pineapples.
- Tesgüino and sotol made by the Huichol Indians from Dasylirion wheeleri, guavas, and corn stalks.
Cacao wine
Evidence from Puerto Escondido dating to the formative stage of the Olmec Culture indicates that a weak alcoholic beverage was made from fermented cacao pulp and stored in pottery containers. This is probably the earliest known consumption of cacao. Fermentation is an early step in the process later used to produce the nonalcoholic chocolate beverage widely consumed in Mesoamerica.Pulque or ''octli''
For at least 1,800 years the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Mexico have brewed pulque from the fermented sap of the maguey plant. Gas chromatographic analysis of ceramic vessels in Teotihuacan, dated to AD 200–550, found evidence that they once contained pulque. For the Aztecs, the imbibing of pulque was done only by certain people, under certain conditions. It was a ritual drink, consumed during festivals such as that of the goddess Mayahuel,and the god Mixcoatl. Bernardino de Sahagún records the Aztec ceremony associated with drinking:Libation was done in this manner: when octli was drunk, when they tasted the new octli, when someone had just made octli... he summoned people. He set it out in a vessel before the hearth, along with small cups for drinking. Before having anyone drink, he took up octli with a cup and then poured it before the hearth; he poured the octli in the four directions. And when he had poured the octli then everyone drank it.
Pulque was drunk by Aztec priests and their sacrificial victims, to increase the priests' enthusiasm and to ease the suffering of the victim. Among commoners, it was permitted only to the elderly and pregnant or lactating women due to the association between pulque and fertility, purification and renewal. Production of pulque was ritualized and the brewers would abstain from sex during the fermentation period. During most festivals, participants were not permitted to drink more than four cups of pulque, and Aztec folklore describes the likely fate of people who drank too much, including death by disease or accident. Exaggerated tales of the Huastec people characterized them as habitual drunkards and detailed their shameful behavior under the influence of alcohol, in an effort to discourage drunkenness among the Aztecs. Elderly Aztecs who had reached the age of 70 and had raised families could drink as much as they wanted, as long as their children carried them home safely, keeping them covered up and "restraining and guiding" them so they would avoid "committing excesses and transgressions," and not fall "into a river or a hole." Drunkenness was also viewed as a means of establishing communication between humans and the gods, and was therefore not considered appropriate for commoners. Alcoholic intoxication was seen as an act of transcending the boundaries of human, divine and natural forces, one that should only be done by accomplished, brave and important members of society so as to avoid offending the supernatural world. Among the Maya, pulque was referred to as chih and was flavored with honey and spices.
Pre-colonial North America
Prior to contact with colonists, alcohol use and production were mainly concentrated in the territory that today comprises the southwestern United States. In 2007, archaeologist Glenna Dean conducted studies to show that, between AD 828 and 1126, Pueblos in Chaco Canyon were brewing a weak beer made by fermenting kernels of corn. Gas chromatography analysis of 800-year-old potsherds found at Pueblo Bonito in 2006 contained residues consistent with fermented corn products.Some Native American tribes produced weak beers, wine, and other fermented beverages, but the alcohol was naturally limited to 8–14% ABV, and they were used only for ceremonial purposes. The still, required to make stronger alcoholic beverages, was unknown. The Tohono O'odham, Piman, Apache, and Maricopa people all used the saguaro cactus to produce a wine, sometimes called tiswin or haren a pitahaya. The Chiricahua prepared a kind of corn beer called tula-pah using sprouted corn kernels, dried and ground, flavored with locoweed or lignum vitae roots, placed in water and allowed to ferment. The Coahuiltecan in Texas combined mountain laurel with agave sap to create an alcoholic drink similar to pulque, and the Zunis were believed to have made fermented beverages from aloe, maguey, corn, prickly pear, pitaya, and even grapes.
In eastern North America the Creek of Georgia and Cherokee of the Carolinas used berries and other fruits to make alcoholic beverages, and there is some evidence that the Huron made a mild beer by soaking corn in water to produce a fermented gruel to be consumed at tribal feasts. In the northwest, the Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island produced a mildly alcoholic drink using elderberry juice, black chitons, and tobacco. Despite the fact that they had little to no agriculture, both the Aleuts and Yuit of Kodiak Island in Alaska were observed making alcoholic drinks from fermented raspberries.