# Native Americans and Alcohol **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813 "2005-02-18T23:25:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/1 "2005-02-18T23:25:12Z")
Is it true that the Native Americans didn’t have/know about alcohol until europeans came here and introduced it to them? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/2 "2005-02-18T23:31:30Z")
Alcohol - yes. Mind altering substances, no, they knew plenty about them. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/3 "2005-02-18T23:34:41Z")
Further, I believe it was the Spanish who brought alcohol to the Americas round about the late 15th early 16th century perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/4 "2005-02-18T23:37:10Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Is it true that the Native Americans didn’t have/know about alcohol until europeans came here and introduced it to them? A number of native american cultures didn’t discover alcoholic beverages before contact, but quite a few of them did. Notable cultures that did not were the Inuits, the Trukese, and the Maori. [http://www.alac.org.nz/InpowerFiles\Publications\CategorisedDocument.Document1.1488.0005d36e-e207-4a86-a32b-e77e22027e50.pdf](http://www.alac.org.nz/InpowerFiles%5CPublications%5CCategorisedDocument.Document1.1488.0005d36e-e207-4a86-a32b-e77e22027e50.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/5 "2005-02-18T23:39:07Z")
And yes, I recognize that the Trukese and Maori are not Native Americans. I was just listing a few worldwide indigenous folk who didn’t discover alcohol by themselves. I’ve thus far been unable to find a definitive list of those cultures in the Americas which did not have alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/6 "2005-02-18T23:44:00Z")
Cultures who did have alcohol: Aztecs, Mayans (they have Pulque: [http://www.tequilamescal.com/pulque.htm](http://www.tequilamescal.com/pulque.htm)), Incan ([http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040920/mummydrink.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040920/mummydrink.html)). ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/7 "2005-02-18T23:54:49Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > I’ve thus far been unable to find a definitive list of those cultures in the Americas which did not have alcohol. Given that fuit juice will ferment naturally, I’d think any culture that had fruit juices would have had alcohol. Maybe in some cultures alcohol wasn’t popular, but surely _some_ folks figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/8 "2005-02-20T17:55:28Z")
On a related note, since we hear so much about Native Americans being decimated by alcoholism, leading some Alaskan communities to institute strict dry laws, is there some physiogical disposition to alcoholism, or is it just the result of other factors such as poverty? And, with regard to the few NA groups who did have alcohol before the Europeans came, are they less susceptible to alcoholism? ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/9 "2005-02-20T19:00:36Z")
Some Native American (and Asian) people either produce low quantities or no amount of enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase which is the mechanism by which your liver breaks down alcohol into acetaldehyde. IIRC, People who lack this enzyme are prone higher levels of blood alcohol per drink compared to people who have this enzyme. 'Course, it’s been a while since I had to know this stuff and I might be completely out to lunch. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/10 "2005-02-20T21:26:25Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > On a related note, since we hear so much about Native Americans being decimated by alcoholism, leading some Alaskan communities to institute strict dry laws, is there some physiogical disposition to alcoholism, or is it just the result of other factors such as poverty? And, with regard to the few NA groups who did have alcohol before the Europeans came, are they less susceptible to alcoholism? I’ve often wondered if this was just a question of timing. From what I’ve read, the introduction of cheap gin to England resulted in major health and social problems. Did the availability of cheap gin kill off those who were most susceptible to its effects? ---
**Author:** ![CMG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@CMG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CMG)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-americans-and-alcohol/290813/11 "2005-02-21T00:36:15Z")
Dr. Drew from loveline and an addiction medicine specialist claims that addiction has a definite genetic component. He claims that having a parent who has the addiction biology gives there children roughly a 50% chance of inheriting it. In terms of Native Americans he says that its closer to 80% thus explaining why addiction seems to be more common among them. I’m not sure how much of this is working theory or science fact but Drew seems to know a great deal about addiction.