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This article is from Today's
Native Father, issue #138, May/June, 2005. Related articles from this issue: |
Future Generations Threatened by Alcohol by David Hertzler |
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The sharing circle was filled with sad faces. Every couple was grieving children who had been taken away or placed into care because of parental drinking. Some parents had been in treatment for alcohol. Others were scheduled to go. One father insisted that his children did not have FAS, though his parents thought otherwise. By now most people know about FAS, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It is one of the few known birth defects caused by a lifestyle choice of the mother. It was first formally identified and named in 1973, though even the ancient Greeks had noted the connection between birth defects and alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Now, after 32 years of study and publicity, in Canada:
A study of children in one Arctic school revealed 21% with signs of FAS/FAE. All of these cases were children of Inuit descent. None were caucasian. Any other disease with numbers like these would be classed as an epidemic. Another Arctic school claimed that 50% of its students were affected by FAS/FAE. How has the Canadian government responded to this need? The 1999 budget included funds ear-marked over several years for FAS/FAE initiatives in aboriginal communities. The following year, the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch funded ten projects in various locations across Canada. Most of these projects included either dispersing of information or training of community workers. More recently, in May, 2004, Best Start, an Ontario agency, launched a province-wide information campaign. What will it take to conquer this problem? Certainly it takes more than information. From traditional times to the present, First Nations and Inuit cultures have stressed collective ways to deal with issues. Health means balance and harmony within and among each of the four aspects of human nature: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. This is best achieved in the context of family and community. But many Aboriginal communities and families have been badly damaged. Social and economic changes have stripped them of much of their economic base, culture and political agency. With decreased levels of self-sufficiency, they are having difficulty regaining their lost harmony and balance. “Absence of self-government created a climate in which alcoholism and violence were allowed to flourish,” according to the 1992 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Communities that once fought alcohol by declaring themselves “dry” have all but given up the struggle. Still, the will to live sustains many individuals and families. The member of the sharing circle who had been in treatment most often expressed hope that if he “kept trying,” he would improve and would get his children back. Others placed their hopes in spiritual conversion and renewal. Still others believed that healing their marriages would help them break the bondage of alcohol. We support these efforts. We encourage parents to find a few others who will stand with them in changing their lifestyle, even if it means being different from the larger community. As serious as they are, FAS and FAE are only symptoms of deeper problems. Not only have community relation-ships broken down. People have also lost their relationship with Creator God. Only as these relationships are restored can the power of alcohol be broken. CAN A FATHER’S DRINKING CAUSE FAS? Not directly. But it can encourage the mother to drink. A father’s drinking can also lower testosterone levels, decrease healthy sperm and increase the risk of disorders in offspring. A 1986 study showed that fathers who were “regular” drinkers had babies that weighed less than babies of fathers who drank “occasionally.” |
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