In recent years, a number of studies have addressed the health and mental health needs of American Indian (Al) people. These studies typically reveal a high rate of alcohol-related disorders among Indian people. The application of these findings, however, is limited by several factors. First, most of this work is limited to reservation residing tribes. Thus, virtually nothing is known about these issues among the Indian people who are not reservation residing, e.g., those tribes who were not placed on reservation lands, per se, but have established communities within larger, more integrated communities. Second, most have included predominantly male samples. Women are infrequently included. Third, under-appreciated in the literature is the heterogeneity of drinking practices both between and within tribes. In summary, there are essentially no data relevant to needs assessment, community perception or specific outcomes and consequences among male and female non-reservation residing Indian tribes. Oklahoma is home to approximately 260,000 American Indian people representing approximately 36 tribes dispersed across the state without reservation assignment or housing. Thus, Oklahoma represents an ideal environment for the conduct of programmatic study of non-reservation residing Indians. The overall objectives of this three-year collaborative initiative proposal are to 1) enhance our understanding of alcohol use among non-reservation residing American Indians, 2) facilitate the development of American Indian clinical researchers within our rather large collaborative group, and 3) to empower tribal affiliates and leaders to address problem areas related to alcohol use through the application of current research findings in both applied and basic sciences. To achieve these objectives, we are proposing a multicomponent project which a) involves community networking, educational programming and the conduct of pilot/feasibility studies and b) requires the collaborative efforts of the Cognitive Studies Laboratory (within the Oklahoma Center for Alcohol & Drug-Related Studies), Al academicians, clinicians and administrators across the state, and the Al recovering community.
