Alcohol, Alcoholism, and the American Indians

Native Americans or American Indians had a particularly strong sense of identity. Their clothes were special, their languages irreplaceable. Besides, their tribal dances such as Kachina traditional spirituality stone weapons strings or belts known as wampums sand painting and the habit of hunting the bison were every last(predicate) parts of their roots imbedded deep into their consciousness (Nichols, 1998).When the Europeans came to dislodge these roots by occupying the land that the Indians had believed to be theirs alone, the bides of the latter changed dramatically. This was a time of cultural death for the Indians, in fact.To drown disclose the pain of humiliation felt receivable to their roots being pulled out the Indians found relief in alcohol. Thus, Sherman Alexie (1993), a Spokane/Coeur dAlene Indian, writes in The Lone Ranger and Tonto fistfight in Heaven Go ahead, Adrian said. Pull the trigger. I held a pistol to my temple. I was sober provided wished I was drunk e nough to pull the trigger. inebriantism becomes a pith of drowning out the humiliation felt by the Indians. By attempting to drown out the pain of cultural demise, the Indians are also making an attempt at self-re unusedal. They entertain been forced to move to the West by the armed Europeans.The natural g everyplacenment wants to assimilate them, and destroy the Native American culture in the process, seeing that the government is afraid of being overthrown by the natives. Alexie uses Victors father as a metaphor for the Native American culture. He writes your father will rise identical a salmon, leap over the bridge He will rise, he will rise. The continuation of the American Indian culture is similar to the revolving life cycle.The author asserts that the Native American culture could keep on going like ashes flowing on the river. The culture may also rise one day like salmon rise in the river all of a sudden. The Native American culture could pass from generation to genera tion continuously. However, many of the Indians have no faith in the restoration of their culture. Countless Native American stack are, therefore, hopelessly drinking their lives a mien because they feel no motivation to live a better life.The Native Americans do not see a way to improve their lives despite the faint hope of cultural restoration. Alcohol to them is a painkiller. As the Indians have lost faith in find the Native American culture, Alexie also renders that there is no way for the Indians to beat up back their tradition and culture. He writes With each glass of beer, Samuel gained a some ounces of wisdom, courage.But after a while, he began to understand too much just about fear and failure, too (Alexie 134). At first, the Indians believe that alcohol may aid them escape from the reality and apologize the pain of losing their rich culture. But then, they find out that the loss of their culture makes them afraid and worried. They feel sad as a new culture takes over their spiritual traditions and dear customs, seeing that they have already failed in preventing their culture from being taken over by a new culture. Hence, Samuel neither forgets his tribes culture nor accepts the new customs.Though his tribes culture is being exterminated, he has no way to stop this from happening. All his life he has watched his brothers and sisters, and most of his tribe folks, choke into alcoholism and surrendered dreams. So, now, Samuel, the one who never drank, also wants some drink to relieve his pain of roots being pulled out. Moreover, he picks up the pieces of a boloney from the street and changes the world for a few moments in his mind to show how he truly can escape the world.