As I confronted my own assumptions, I realized how incredibly convenient a biological explanation for Native addiction rates would be for the rest of us. If we could attribute the epidemic of alcoholism and fetal alcohol effects on reservations to something about “them,” we wouldn’t have to ask about our complicity in the systematic denigration of their cultures, the theft of land and other resources, or realize that being exiled with little hope for personal growth or community prosperity might drive anyone to drink.
