Eskimos Really Drink a Lot!

Jadow

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2003
5,962
2
0
Watching Alaska State Troopers.

Man Eskimos are all a bunch of drunks. LOL

Really should buy a ton of booze and drive it up there to sell, could make a mint.
 

Electric Amish

Elite Member
Oct 11, 1999
23,578
1
0
Watching Alaska State Troopers.

Man Eskimos are all a bunch of drunks. LOL

Really should buy a ton of booze and drive it up there to sell, could make a mint.

Until you got caught and jailed for boot-legging (or appropriate charge for transporting liquor across state lines)
 

KB

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 1999
5,406
389
126
Same with the Russians. There isn't much to do when its cold outside, except to stay inside and drink.
 

dr150

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2003
6,570
24
81
Alaska State Troopers is a funny show.

I never knew alcohol drinking/drug use was so abnormally heavy.
 

moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
61,504
12
56
All Alaskans aren't Eskimos. And, having a friend who used to live there, I will repeat what she has told me, they drink a lot there because that is all there is to do.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
57,055
18,409
146
There is something with the genetics of Native Americans that makes them very susceptible to alcoholism.

Add to that the boredom and isolation of Alaska, and you've got a real problem.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,621
14,006
146
There is something with the genetics of Native Americans that makes them very susceptible to alcoholism.

Add to that the boredom and isolation of Alaska, and you've got a real problem.

I know the members of my family who live on the res certainly celebrate the ancient holiday called "Many Beers" as often as possible...
 

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
There is something with the genetics of Native Americans that makes them very susceptible to alcoholism.

Add to that the boredom and isolation of Alaska, and you've got a real problem.

I have a genetic theory about that.

In Europe the temperate climate encouraged population growth to the point that water sources became polluted. Since the middle ages Europeans drank brewed drinks because they were safer than the water. Hence, alcholicism genetically predisposed people were naturally selected out of the population somewhat.

Eskimos live in an area of abundant fresh water, hence they didn't turn alcoholic beverages for health reasons. Plus a relative scarcity of ingredients for brewing alcohol like grain were in short supply in areas with a very short growing season. Therefore Eskimos that have only recently been exposed to plentiful alcohol tend to more alcoholism than descendent of Europeans.

American Indians share some of the same factors. Northeast US indians never exhausted the available water supply so they never turned to drinking alcoholic beverages to the degree Europeans did. Plus, their smaller number, relative to their available wild life meant they hunted more than they farmed. Even in areas where they farmed, they were late to idea of crop rotation so they quickly exhaused the soil, putting grain in short supply.
 

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
7
81
Heh watched it last night...it seems like everyone there is a drunk and has guns.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,583
30,833
146
Native Americans are very susceptible to alcohol addiction. They, like many Asian populations and women, lack a 2nd copy of ADH (alcohol dehydrogenase).

as such . they get drunker much quicker than those with both copies. Added that to their economic depression, reservation life, cold, cold existence in the northern areas of the world, you have serious, serious problems.

....it's tragic, really.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,583
30,833
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Are Eskimos considered "Native Americans"?

yes. Inuit is just another tribe, as are Cherokee, Seminole, Iroquoi, etc...

...afaik, anyway. :hmm:

But there are "Eskimos" in Siberia, or other parts of the world, as well. Not sure if they are all Inuit, though.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,583
30,833
146
I have a genetic theory about that.

In Europe the temperate climate encouraged population growth to the point that water sources became polluted. Since the middle ages Europeans drank brewed drinks because they were safer than the water. Hence, alcholicism genetically predisposed people were naturally selected out of the population somewhat.

Eskimos live in an area of abundant fresh water, hence they didn't turn alcoholic beverages for health reasons. Plus a relative scarcity of ingredients for brewing alcohol like grain were in short supply in areas with a very short growing season. Therefore Eskimos that have only recently been exposed to plentiful alcohol tend to more alcoholism than descendent of Europeans.

American Indians share some of the same factors. Northeast US indians never exhausted the available water supply so they never turned to drinking alcoholic beverages to the degree Europeans did. Plus, their smaller number, relative to their available wild life meant they hunted more than they farmed. Even in areas where they farmed, they were late to idea of crop rotation so they quickly exhaused the soil, putting grain in short supply.

well, the commonly accepted theory of why western populations have both copies of ADH as opposed to Eastern population, is that the preferred safety drink in western culture was beer--fermented, alcoholic, grain-based beverage. For the East, it was Tea. They also have things like Miso soup (though in the west, we have glorious saurkraut).

This lack of necessity for processing alcohol could have acted as a selective pressure on ADH, in different directions, within these populations.

Though, tbh, I'm not so sure that the generational time of such cultural practices existing allows for such stark genetic inheritances.