TRADITIONAL AND WESTERN HEALING PRACTICES FOR ALCOHOLISM IN AMERICAN-INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES

The American Indian and Alaska Native population is a culturally diver se population with a current census of 1,959,000. Prior to White conta ct, there was historically little use of alcoholic beverages except fo r American Indians in the Southwest. After White contact, use and misu se of alcohol escalated rapidly; however, the prevalence, patterns, an d problems of drinking alcoholic beverages vary enormously even in tri bes closely linked geographically. American Indians and Alaska Natives have preserved and revitalized a number of traditional healing practi ces and applied these to the treatment of alcohol-related problems. Th ese healing practices include the following: nativistic movements, sac red dances, sweat lodges, talking circle, four circles, and cultural e nhancement programs. Additionally, Western treatment approaches have b een applied in the treatment of problems related to alcohol, such as m edication for detoxification, disulfiram (Antabuse), Alcoholics Anonym ous, and behavioral interventions. Several investigators have complete d a small number of naturalistic follow-up studies, but no one has und ertaken a randomized controlled trial looking at specific methods of a lcohol treatment in American Indians or Alaska Natives. American India n and Alaska Native communities have adapted and integrated both Tradi tional and Western approaches to fit their own unique sociocultural ne eds.