http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/16/how-to-address-alcoholism-on-indian-reservations
Another interesting "Room for Debate"...I'm telling you readers, it's worth checking out every week just to see what they've covered. Sometimes it's dumb (I'm allowed to say that because I read the NY Times every day), but I'd say on average once a week there's a good one.
So here's the back story: the town of Whiteclay, Nebraska is very close to the Pine Ridge reservation (also in Nebraska). Pine Ridge is one of the largest reservations in the country and coincidentally, bans alcohol. Whiteclay is considered a gateway town where over 4 millions units of alcohol (cans, bottles, etc) are sold yearly. What's its population? 10. The tribe can do nothing under the law with Whiteclay because it's out of their jurisdiction. Pine Ridge covers counties in Nebraks and South Dakota and sadly, one of the counties in South Dakota has the same life expectency as living in Afghanistan.
So, what to do? Do we blame the reservation for not doing enough? Do we blame companies that make/distribute alcohol? Do we blame the U.S. government (and in a sense, U.S. society as a whole) for where centuries of oppression have led these people?
There are no easy answers. Many Native American activists are calling for Anheuser-Busch to have to pay some sort of restitution, since a majority of the products sold in Whiteclay are made by them. The Oglala Sioux has also brought lawsuits against the company as well as other distributors and retailers. Some want the government to extend the tribe's boundaries to include Whiteclay, thus making the alcohol sales illegal. Oh, and Anheuser-Busch? They haven't said a damn thing.
On a tangent, what saddens me about this is that people get all up in arms about where the money at Komen goes or doesn't go. We complain about our tax dollars going to this or that. We worry about a lot of complex things. But I really doubt that a lot of people are worried about this. These are people we've put in the worst situation we could possibly think of. And then we take our sweet time in offering any help or solutions. I really hope something comes of this.
So, because it is a collective of people with a drinking problem all of a sudden it is suppose to create a national uproar and punish the evil brewers forcing beer upon those cannot say but help lap up the suds? Bollocks. It is a problem, indeed, why cannot other tribes step up and help out their brethren? Money, especially government money in no way can solve this problem. Rather the government subsidies are likely the root of the issue.
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly a jurisdiction problem. If the town that only exists to sell liquor went away, the tribe might have a better shot at healing the alcoholism wound. Other tribes have been successful implementing internal programs at curbing alcoholism. There is also an AA program that uses Native American religious traditions that has been pretty successful.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying Anheuser Busch needs to clean up the mess- but I don't know if not saying anything is the best PR move.