The Route 66 town of Gallup, New Mexico, long has been known as a place beset by many problems because of alcoholism in its Native American population.
But this report in Indian Country Today, titled “Blood Money,” shows how deep and breathtaking the problems are. Some of the bigger points:
- Gallup has 39 liquor licenses, a ratio of 19 per 10,000 people, which is higher than many major cities.
- Gallup was ranked by the FBI as the most-dangerous city in New Mexico.
- 36 unnatural deaths by Native Americans were reported in 2014, and four more this month alone. Many of the deaths are due to exposure during the winter months, and many others are due to being hit by vehicles while crossing roads. Indian Nation Today’s report has the full, sobering list of the unnatural deaths from 2014 to now.
- The deputy chief said the Gallup Police Department received 22,000 calls in 2013, and even more in 2014. That number is more than many major cities, and 95 percent were alcohol-related.
- There are great fears a recently passed panhandling ordinance is putting people more at risk for unnatural deaths, especially exposure.
I sure wish I knew what the solution is. The simplistic response would be to urge the Native Americans to simply stop drinking. But I’ve known people of all races and statuses who, once alcoholism took hold, found it nearly impossible — or worse — to shake the disease. If the solution were simple, there’d be a lot fewer alcoholics.
My conscience would never abide the ownership of a liquor store in Gallup. (And I’m not teetotaler; I like drinking a beer or two several times a week.) Yet the city’s hands are largely tied on reducing the number of liquor licenses. If Gallup simply cut the number in one fell swoop, the store owners would sue the city to bankruptcy.
The deeper problem lies with how Native Americans were treated by their own country. If you’ve endured centuries of genocide, displacement (the story recounts one case as recently as 1974) and accusations of being subhuman, you’re bound to endure deep problems with alcohol or drug abuse in later generations. One can simply look at Australia’s treatment of Aborigines — and what happened next — as a parallel.
The story says Gallup liquor-store owners, sheriff’s deputies nor state troopers didn’t attend a recent meeting of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission to discuss the problem. I’m sure a few had legitimate reasons to not be there, but I’m sure a few didn’t want to face their own guilt. As one writer put it, they “can not bear the agony of looking their country in the eye.”
On a related note, it will be interesting to see how the varying Native American tribes deal with an upcoming tourism initiative that involves their history and the Mother Road. One of the goals is to pass along more history about Indians on Route 66. It wouldn’t be surprising if tourists ultimately get more history than they bargained for.
(Sign in Gallup, New Mexico, by Jody Bowie via Flickr)
Excellent reporting on a serious subject that affects all of us who love Route 66. Thanks Ron. Keep up the good work.
Excellent article. On the liquor license number it does seem “high” based on population. My question is how many are there for each of these: Restaurants, liquor stores, bars, and /or package liquor. If the majority of the licenses are issued to restaurants and hotels I can’t see that being a problem with the alcoholism rate among Native Americans. Just being that those would be frequented by tourists and travelers. Now if the majority were bars/package liquor stores there I could see that number being affected just due to accessibility. Limiting the number of licenses wouldn’t necessarily change anything but limiting the number of bar/package liquor licenses may may a small impact. Maybe short term only. As as with all addictions people will find a way to feed their need regardless of race. I think helping treat those who need it need to come both from the tribe and government. But honestly I don’t see that happening due to the reasons presented in this article, There is a solution to the problem. It is just to get both sides to work together.
One of the really sad thing about this article is that the same exact problems existed when I worked on an anthropological study of the Gallup area through the University of New Mexico back in the summer of 1973. The study followed the abduction of the mayor by a young Navajo man, who was also a student at UNM. The man was distraught over the deaths of so many of his relatives and friends from “a night of drinking in Gallup.” The abduction followed the death of his grandmother. The stand off ended with the young man shooting himself twice in the chest with a shotgun – if you can believe that. At that time, a huge percentage of those liquor licenses were illegal, exceeding the cities then laws. And of those illegal licenses, many were owned by the then mayor. The problems are deep, and corruption, greed and alcoholism are the heart of it. At that time the doctors in Indian Health Center estimated that 75% of all deaths among Native Americans was directly or indirectly related to alcoholism. Such a sad history for this town.
I’m not from Gallup, nor am I a Native American, so I can’t speak for anyone. But I have an organizational connection to a Native American group and have read some books on native American history and culture (mostly the late Vine Deloria, Jr.). Alcoholism is a problem, to be sure, but it’s also a symptom of a much larger problem. The impact upon Native American civilization caused by the encounter with European culture has shattered their ways of life, leaving most Native Americans with nowhere to go psychologically. Current government policies of segregation (reservations) and repression leave Natives with a stark choice: Assimilate (if you can) or live your non-life in an ethnic limbo where, as far as white people are concerned, you don’t really exist, except as a caricature or a stereotype. I think most sensible people would agree at this point that the clash between Natives and Europeans has been an unmitigated disaster for everyone except those at the top of the socio-economic ladder, who’ve profited most from exploitation. If we could address that on a human-to-human level, I believe we’d see a decrease in the alcoholism.