Native Americans not Genetically More Susceptible to Alcoholism
Originally Written for a WIEP Facebook Post, Published 2/11/16 (edited and posted here 2021)
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A recent article floating around entitled “Study Debunks Notions About Native Americans, Alcohol” has raised more than a few eyebrows, and it should. But this wasn’t the first article to float around fb debunking this myth recently. I am more surprised by how an earlier article posted last October "No, Native Americans aren't genetically more susceptible to alcoholism: Time to retire the 'firewater' fairytale" wasn’t shared as frequently as I would have expected it to be… But then again when I think about it, maybe I am not so shocked.
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One could point out that a lot of what we (WIEP) do is mythbusting - addressing socially accepted "history" based largely on misunderstandings, unintentional bias, and intentional propaganda (rather successfully I might add), than on actual facts. Truth is there’s so much honest misunderstandings of Native history in mainstream society today... I often hear myself having to clarify disinformation dozens of times each (program) day. And it's important to recognize that many of these falsehoods continue beyond the constrains of the past to shape popular thoughts of Indigenous Peoples today held by non-natives. I would have to say one of the hardest falsehoods to address is the alcohol myth because it is just so very accepted as fact among general audiences. I can see those I speak to are often in total disbelief when I attempt to explain the real lack of evidence for any supposed genetic predisposition to alcoholism in Native populations when compared to Anglo-Americans... their pleasant expressions turn to total distrust as I challenge such a well-known “fact."
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But it has to be said... such addiction is not a proven predisposed genetic marker among the general First Nations population. The relationship between genetics and alcoholism, regardless of any patterns with Native populations versus Anglo populations, is still being explored... and on an individual level, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism puts forth: "Some researchers believe dopamine D2 might modulate the severity of alcoholism, rather than serve as a primary cause. The dopamine D2 association continues to be interesting, but it does not seem to be transmitted in families in such a way that it is responsible for alcoholism; its role, if any, has yet to be determined.” (1)
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“…There’s no evidence that Native Americans are more biologically susceptible to substance use disorders than any other group,... American Indians don’t metabolize or react to alcohol differently than whites do, and they don’t have higher prevalence of any known risk genes.” (2) Believing the firewater fable serves no purpose into helping those that suffer with these addictions today nor does it serve to understand Native history any better either. In fact, believing this to be the smoking gun is to turn our backs on some real major social factors that need to be addressed for its role in alcohol abuse (and that includes social factors historically speaking too). It is important to understand actual genetic issues that might play a role on an individual scale and note the very real environmental factors that many researchers have admitted probably factor more into alcohol abuse than anything biological (though they likely work together, on the individual scale).
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But what about that “enzyme” argument so many of you heard of? You know the one… that Native Americans (across the board) are missing an enzyme that makes them predisposed to alcohol abuse. Well, according to one source Dr. Ting-Kai Li and his coworkers have identified two genes that “protect against heavy drinking… These are particularly prevalent among Asians," Li says. "We have shown that Native Americans,… do not have these protective genes. The one that is particularly effective is a mutation of the gene for the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase, which plays a major role in metabolizing alcohol. The mutation is found very frequently in Chinese and Japanese populations but is less common among other Asian groups, including Koreans, the Malayo-Polynesian group, and others native to the Pacific Rim. We've also looked at Euro-Americans, Native Americans, and Eskimos” [Inuit] “and they don't have that gene mutation," says Li.” (3) So to review, Anglo-Americans, the historical and current major perpetuators of the “alcohol myth,” also do not have this gene mutation for this enzyme either.
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Going on with the enzyme topic: “Alcohol is metabolized by several pathways, the most common of which involves two key enzymes— alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Genetic differences in these enzymes may help to explain why some groups of people have higher or lower rates of alcohol-related problems…” However “The findings suggest that it is unlikely that Native Americans carry a genetic variant that predisposes them to alcoholism. Certain variants of ADH and ADLH do have a protective affect against alcoholism in some Native American people; however, these findings do not explain the high incidence of alcoholism in the tribes that were studied.” (4)
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And maybe this whole post really isn’t even taking issue with the biological science of it, which will continue to be explored and advance our understanding of how biology plays a role in addictions. But maybe, just maybe, this post really wants to point out our need to perpetuate this myth despite ample scientific evidence. We’re too busy shifting blame away from colonialism by trying to fault genetics (and unknowingly in a way that attempts to prove Native Peoples are somehow biologically “inferior”), thus ignoring very real historical and modern factors: loss of land and clean resources, loss of language and identity/culture, loss/stealing of children through fraudulent and targeting foster programs, systemic racism, abuse and trauma, poverty and lack of opportunity, and so on… These factors are far more revealing than something biological yet to be proven. So then why do we insist on holding fast to this, shunning evidence to the contrary, unwilling to loosen our grip and forever uttering the myth over and over again,… especially when we have been confronted with this evidence to the contrary? Well Dr. Joel Kettner thinks he knows the uncomfortable truth: “The persistence of the genetic stereotype is evidence that there is still much work to do in combating racism…(5).” That word “racism” may seem harsh to some, but the truth is this myth stands in the way of fairly assessing past cultural histories and negatively affects current social climates (for example, including possibly impeding employment opportunities, as pointed out in the article – follow link).
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This is what it comes down to… Here’s the current science, here’s the truth as we know it by real evidence. So let's put this one to rest - no more perpetuating myths purely born of a colonialism-mindset, passionately defended by popular opinion, still uttered to “make sense of things” (though incorrectly), and yet it reality only serves to promote some sort of "racial inferiority" that keeps a colonizing-justifying worldview intact. No room for that when we’re talking real Native history… right?
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