FRANK’S KNOWLEDGE

Dang, how does Frank know so much? Well, after Frank started to get help with his drinking problem, he began to realize just how much stigma there was about Native Americans and alcohol. The stigma is that all Indians are drunks and don’t know how to handle their alcohol. What really troubled him was not only was this stigma well known by him and other Indians, it was also reinforced by the same people, not just non-Indians. These stigmas exist because of a lot of ignorance on everybody’s part, Indian and non-Indian alike. So he did a little research and came up with some interesting facts.

“...I knew that library card was good for something...”

One of the first things he found was that alcohol has actually been around this continent long before the white settlers washed ashore. The Aztecs of what is now known as Mexico and the natives of South America, the Mayans, used alcohol for various religious reasons.

“What do u mean we can’t drink any more?”

The Mayans made liquor called balche from the bark of a tree by the same name. They used this liquor in the worship of the god of balche. And how about this for irony...Spaniards actually tried to ban the liquor after defeating them because of strong religious practices involved with it.

“So what if I’m drunk...what are you going to do about it?”

The Aztecs had liquor called octli, which was for ceremonial use only. They were also very strict as to how much was used at the ceremonies. Public intoxication was also not tolerated. In fact, it was seen as one of the biggest crimes of all. Being drunk in public was seen as having no control over ones self. Nobles and priests who were found drunk in public were put to death. The reason for this was because being drunk in public showed only one thing—the inability to perform any kind of duties and carry out any responsibilities, therefore, becoming a liability to the community. The lower class was dealt with not as severely. The first time commoners were caught drunk in public, they had their heads shaved. Death was also a punishment for ordinary people who had a record of being caught drunk.