When most Americans think about American Indians in November, it's probably as part of Thanksgiving pageantry: the Wampanoags who gave the hapless Pilgrims food during their first winter at Plymouth and taught them how to grow corn the following spring, the ninety Indians who attended the "first Thanksgiving" feast in 1621. You may not know that, ever since 1990, November has officially been "Native American Heritage Month" in the United States, a time to recognize "the rich ancestry and traditions" of the nation's first inhabitants. But Jeopardy!'s Ken Jennings has some reservations about the accuracy of our Native American knowledge. It's never too late to set the record straight!
The Debunker: Where Did The Inaccurate Stereotype Of Native American Drinking Even Come From?
The word "firewater," probably a translation from the Ojibwa word for whisky, was popularized by James Fenimore Cooper in The Last of the Mohicans. Like many racist stereotypes of Native Americans, this one was invented by settlers back in the earliest days of the frontier. Most Natives had never previously brewed anything stronger than wine from fruit or a mild beer from corn, so European fur traders found that they could barter more successfully with Native Americans who had been plied with kegs of liquor.
Implicit in the "firewater myth" is the idea that American Indians are prone to alcoholism because of some racial genetic tendency. This idea has been made explicit many times, even as recently as a 2007 publication from the National Institutes of Health, which explains the high rate of alcohol-related deaths in many Indian tribes as a result "of differences in the way they metabolize alcohol." The only problem with this centuries-old bit of conventional wisdom? There's never been a shred of scientific evidence for it.
It's true that alcohol abuse is a disproportionate problem in Native American communities. Fully 12 percent of Native deaths in the United States are alcohol-related, and the incidence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in many tribes is seven times the national average. But you can see similar addiction trends in aboriginal peoples all over the world, including many that have no close genetic link to American Indians. Why is there so much substance abuse among indigenous people? The obvious answer seems to be the right one: studies show that the stresses of lost culture and autonomy, crushing poverty, and unemployment all raise the likelihood of alcoholism and other addictions. Understanding and solving these problems means asking hard questions about how Native people have been treated down to the present, not just hand-waving about made-up liver conditions or enzymes.
Quick Quiz: The closest English equivalent to a word like "firewater" is what after-dinner drink, which takes its name from the Dutch for "burned wine"?
Ken Jennings is the author of eleven books, most recently his Junior Genius Guides, Because I Said So!, and Maphead. He's also the proud owner of an underwhelming Bag o' Crap. Follow him at ken-jennings.com or on Twitter as @KenJennings.