In a conversation with a coworker who is Navajo I asked why the Navajo didn't open casinos like the other tribes to bring in money. His reply was, "We already have alcohol and drug addiction. Should we add gambling addiction to our misery?" Just one man's opinion but he clearly saw a generalized tendency for addiction in his tribe. But h…
In a conversation with a coworker who is Navajo I asked why the Navajo didn't open casinos like the other tribes to bring in money. His reply was, "We already have alcohol and drug addiction. Should we add gambling addiction to our misery?" Just one man's opinion but he clearly saw a generalized tendency for addiction in his tribe. But he could have been speaking from stated views of tribal leadership too.
What you wrote is a strong case for alcoholism being specific to alcohol, neither affirming nor denying a generalized tendency for addiction in general.
The people I've been chatting to would say "drugs & alcohol" too. It's not surprising when you think about what their families have been through, and how badly they still get treated sometimes. The Navajo rez has terrible problems with the mess left behind from uranium mining, from what I've been told.
The Standing Rock Sioux are trying to replace their casino income with wind generation - they got good funding for it after the occupation in 2016/17, and North Dakota has a lot of wind to spare. The casino is a good employer there, though, & I didn't hear much about the tribe itself having a gambling problem - they mostly take cash off the townspeople.
Interesting what you can pick up if you're willing to chat with people!
In a conversation with a coworker who is Navajo I asked why the Navajo didn't open casinos like the other tribes to bring in money. His reply was, "We already have alcohol and drug addiction. Should we add gambling addiction to our misery?" Just one man's opinion but he clearly saw a generalized tendency for addiction in his tribe. But he could have been speaking from stated views of tribal leadership too.
What you wrote is a strong case for alcoholism being specific to alcohol, neither affirming nor denying a generalized tendency for addiction in general.
The people I've been chatting to would say "drugs & alcohol" too. It's not surprising when you think about what their families have been through, and how badly they still get treated sometimes. The Navajo rez has terrible problems with the mess left behind from uranium mining, from what I've been told.
The Standing Rock Sioux are trying to replace their casino income with wind generation - they got good funding for it after the occupation in 2016/17, and North Dakota has a lot of wind to spare. The casino is a good employer there, though, & I didn't hear much about the tribe itself having a gambling problem - they mostly take cash off the townspeople.
Interesting what you can pick up if you're willing to chat with people!