“Based on the data from the 2018 US Census cited by Poverty USA, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate among all minority groups. The national poverty rate for Native Americans was 25.4%, while Black or African American poverty rate was 20.8%. Among Hispanics, the national poverty rate was 17.6%. The White population had an 8.1% national poverty rate during the same period.
Updated US Census Bureau data on poverty for 2019 and 2020 does not show Native Americans or Alaska Natives as a specific category, highlighting the continuous lack of information on this part of the US population. We do not know the full extent of their situation, but based on previous data, Native Americans have the highest rate of poverty in the nation.”
One statistic I have just found out about is that Alaskan Native/ Amer. Indian males have the highest suicide rate in the U.S. More than a third of the deaths were for boys and young men 10-24 years old, acc. to the CDC.
Drinking themselves to death, as well as the result of self-destructive behavior due to drinking. Genetic. It's a trope: look up "Ira Hayes" and the song "Drunken Ira Hayes" (he was one of the Marines who hoisted the American flag over Iwo Jima in WWII).
Suicide is a different stat from "died from complications of alcohol abuse," but being drunk does increase the likelihood of suiciding. (Alcohol is both a depressant and a disinhibiting agent). Deaths from complications of alcohol use are also more likely to occur later in life, after many years of steady consumption. It would be interesting to know if there are differences between tribes or living circumstances.
This document states that there are differences among tribes for suicide risk: Alaskan Natives and Apaches are highest. You are right that alcohol is a primary correlate, along with male sex, (which are risk factors for most populations). The prevalence of suicide among young as opposed to middle aged males is what is unusual.
Mental health stats for Native Americans showed high rates of Major Depressive Disorder, which is associated with a suicide rate 20 times greater than average for the overall American population. Again, this does not explain why the suicides are occurring in young men as opposed to older ones, as is typical for white Americans.
Also unusual is a tendency for suicides among Native Americans to occur in "clusters," which is the focus of the above document.
Wasn't Sherman Alexie commenting here recently? Or maybe it was on another one of my Substacks. At any rate, he would certainly have any number of enlightening things to say on the matter.
I haven't run across his name, but I haven't been on this site as much as elsewhere.
The discussions on black gangs should include discussion of similar cultures on Native reservations. The Warm Springs reservation in Oregon has had a lot of gang and other violence. They have their own chapters of the Crips and Bloods. They have a casino, so I don't know why their economic situation is still poor. Half the people on the reservation are at poverty level, with an average of about $55K across the population.
“Based on the data from the 2018 US Census cited by Poverty USA, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate among all minority groups. The national poverty rate for Native Americans was 25.4%, while Black or African American poverty rate was 20.8%. Among Hispanics, the national poverty rate was 17.6%. The White population had an 8.1% national poverty rate during the same period.
Updated US Census Bureau data on poverty for 2019 and 2020 does not show Native Americans or Alaska Natives as a specific category, highlighting the continuous lack of information on this part of the US population. We do not know the full extent of their situation, but based on previous data, Native Americans have the highest rate of poverty in the nation.”
From https://ncrc.org/racial-wealth-snapshot-native-americans/
One statistic I have just found out about is that Alaskan Native/ Amer. Indian males have the highest suicide rate in the U.S. More than a third of the deaths were for boys and young men 10-24 years old, acc. to the CDC.
Drinking themselves to death, as well as the result of self-destructive behavior due to drinking. Genetic. It's a trope: look up "Ira Hayes" and the song "Drunken Ira Hayes" (he was one of the Marines who hoisted the American flag over Iwo Jima in WWII).
Suicide is a different stat from "died from complications of alcohol abuse," but being drunk does increase the likelihood of suiciding. (Alcohol is both a depressant and a disinhibiting agent). Deaths from complications of alcohol use are also more likely to occur later in life, after many years of steady consumption. It would be interesting to know if there are differences between tribes or living circumstances.
https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma17-5050.pdf
This document states that there are differences among tribes for suicide risk: Alaskan Natives and Apaches are highest. You are right that alcohol is a primary correlate, along with male sex, (which are risk factors for most populations). The prevalence of suicide among young as opposed to middle aged males is what is unusual.
Mental health stats for Native Americans showed high rates of Major Depressive Disorder, which is associated with a suicide rate 20 times greater than average for the overall American population. Again, this does not explain why the suicides are occurring in young men as opposed to older ones, as is typical for white Americans.
Also unusual is a tendency for suicides among Native Americans to occur in "clusters," which is the focus of the above document.
Wasn't Sherman Alexie commenting here recently? Or maybe it was on another one of my Substacks. At any rate, he would certainly have any number of enlightening things to say on the matter.
I haven't run across his name, but I haven't been on this site as much as elsewhere.
The discussions on black gangs should include discussion of similar cultures on Native reservations. The Warm Springs reservation in Oregon has had a lot of gang and other violence. They have their own chapters of the Crips and Bloods. They have a casino, so I don't know why their economic situation is still poor. Half the people on the reservation are at poverty level, with an average of about $55K across the population.