A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes

by Adam Rutherford

there’s no evidence that Native Americans have any versions of genes that metabolize alcohol any differently from white people in America, nor is there a simple single genetic factor that might render someone an alcoholic. There is plenty of evidence for brutal social and cultural experiences for many Native Americans, and generations of oppression, resulting in underemployment, poverty, and low socioeconomic status, all of which are risk factors for alcoholism. Yet, the notion that the high rates of alcoholism in Native Americans—almost twice as high as in white European immigrant Americans—are somehow genetic remains an oft-repeated idea.