The Native American population is one of the most at-risk groups for substance abuse and alcoholism, due in large part to several socioeconomic factors.

 

This disproportionate suffering could be caused by many factors and many experts believe it is due to the loss of land and culture after European colonization, stoking unresolved grief to be transmitted across generations of Native Americans.

 

Now a nonprofit Native American school is dedicated to helping children and families break the cycle of poverty, addiction and mental illness.

 

Robin Knetch, director of counseling at St. Joseph’s Indian school, a nonprofit Native American school in South Dakota, shares more.