Substance Use and Native Americans

Putting that title on the unsplash when looking for a photo, five pictures of African American people came up and this picture. What do any of them have to do with Substance Use I asked myself. The above photo is a Native American male in full regalia. Appears to be dancing. He has a significant amount of eagle feathers. Stars and Stripes, he was in the service. Medicine wheel colors. Teepees. He is an elder. There is a cross. It can mean a Christian cross and it can be the symbol for the cross that was here before Christianity. Others may notice other things too. I do not see substance use and at most powwows substance use is not allowed. You can be asked to leave.

I am not sure why so many photos of African American people came up. There was no substance use that I could see. I know that Native Americans intermarried with many other cultures and African American were also intermarried with Native Americans. Many African Americans I have gotten to know have some ancestry, but most claim African American as that is who they say they look most like. Just like Mexican Americans that I have had conversations with, some have Native American ancestry before there were borders, they would go back and forth between the US and Mexico. Most speak Spanish and were raised in the culture of Mexico, and therefore will choose Mexican. With others though, it is a tribal enrollment that has a person more involved with the Native American culture. This is a very touchy subject and one I can get in trouble for bringing up as some people do not wish to be identified or lumped into a group such as Hispanic, Mexican, Chicano Latino, and there are so many others.

Further along in the photos were older pictures of Native Americans in regalia, like a formal portrait. No substance use was shown. I am teaching an independent study class with this title. It is connected with a Human Services Chemical Dependency program. Many of the students will be Substance Abuse counselors, working with people in substance abuse treatment. They will be getting licensed as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC). Since most treatment programs in Minnesota work with Native Americans it is important to have the information offered in this class. It is a 4 credit semester class and counts for the diversity requirement for their 4 year degree program.

The 2018 findings that I have from trainings are out of date. The following will give you some idea however. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) include: 4% of Native Americans have an illicit drug use disorder. 7.1% of Native Americans have an alcohol use disorder. Nearly 25% of Native Americans report binge drinking in the past month. And considering Native Americans in the USA, make up such a small percentage of the total population that is not a lot of people in the scheme of things, however it is huge for Native American people. In my work life prior to retirement, I was told that Native Americans have the highest rates of alcohol use for a group of people and the good new is if we have to have one statistic it is nice that Native Americans also have the most sober people of any other racial groups of people in the country.

I felt better hearing that, as I am one of those sober Native Americans and I know so many others. In my recovery, I have had sober grandfathers, uncles and cousins, a parent, children, grandchildren, and a couple nieces. There have also been many deaths related to people's drinking and drug use. I like to tell people that by the time our people get to treatment there has been trauma, grief and loss. It was so important that I provide grief work to our people and I have trained many to understand cultural differences, how important the culture is in recovery and the importance of trauma informed care and grief work.

The title may be telling you that Substance use is related to Native Americans and in some ways it is but not always in the ways people think. I am a woman in long term recovery and that means I have not found it necessary to drink alcohol or take drugs in 41 years. I know many like me and those with more time and less time. All Native Americans not using substances. But we are still Native Americans affected by our peoples use of substances.