The issue of suicide among our country's natives

Although Native Americans may be thought of to be happy, spirited people, the harsh reality of their younger generation is quickly becoming more apparent. As the Natives become accustomed to American ideas such as divorce, their young find themselves confused by the clash of cultures. For example, Cynthia Lindquist-Mala, a Native American who grew up on a reservation in North Dakota, tells her struggle during her parents divorce. Divorce is not a concept which is grasped by many natives because it goes, "so strongly against the idea that a man and women who make the commitment to raise a family are bonded eternally". Because of this, when Lindquist-Mala discovered her parents were getting a divorce, she turned to drugs and alcohol for help. Cynthia describes how she felt forced to convert to drugs and alcohol to keep her happy in times of such sorrow such as divorce. Cynthia tells the reader she never realized how modern tools such as drugs and alcohol could make her feel as if she didn't have fear or unhappiness in her life, even with her parents divorce. Cynthia's decisions show a much larger issue occurring with today's modern Native Americans. Our countries Natives are now facing the issue of having to choose between a society filled with iPhones and airplanes, or one filled with family and culture. Although one may think the Nativities would chose the option of relatives and history, one finds them actually choosing the other option. When teenage Native Americans go through events like divorce in their family, a concept which was previously foreign, they find themselves using modern strategies to cope. This opposing view point really allows one to peer into the eye of a Native American and see some modern issues which are currently effecting their lives.