This section provides access to key substance abuse indicators available from SAPPET data sources for the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population at the national level. Please note several indicators cannot be broken down by state level due to data confidentiality and sample size issues. To access state level data on the AI/AN population (wherever available), please go to the 'View Data' section, select the desired state and indicator, and choose 'Race' from the subgroup drop-down tab.

Background and Context

American Indians and Alaska Natives make up 2 percent (5.2 million) of the total US population. There are 566 federally recognized tribes and 325 federally recognized American Indian reservations. Although this population is diverse in geography, there are 14 states with more than 100,000 AI/AN residents. For further details on AI/AN demographics from the United States Census Bureau, click here.

Historically, the AI/AN population has been at a higher risk for substance-related problems and associated risk factors. According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest rate (21.8%) of substance dependence or abuse and binge drinking (30.2%) among people aged 12 and up when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. In addition, the suicide rate among AI/AN ages 10 to 24 years was 21.3 per 100,000, which is twice the suicide rates for Whites and four times the rate for people of other races. To access the 2012 NSDUH report, click here.

SAMHSA's investment in tribes

SAMSHA's role is to ensure tribes have access to resources and services that aim to improve the behavioral health of American Indians and Alaska Natives. SAMSHA strives to unite both mainstream approaches and traditional cultural practices through prevention, treatment, recovery services, and relationship building and strengthening. For more information on SAMHSA's investment in tribes, click here.

SAMHSA's Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT) offers a variety of learning tools and training and technical assistance services to support the substance abuse prevention efforts of SAMHSA tribal prevention grantees. To access CAPT resources, click here.

Data Limitations

Although access to data is critical for prevention planning, national data on the AI/AN population has limitations that need to be considered. First, given the diversity and variability across tribes, national estimates may not accurately reflect individual AI/AN tribes and village communities. A standardized data collection process does not exist and can vary from tribe to tribe. This variability can skew results and does not allow for accurate data comparison. Second, national estimates may be unreliable due to lack of sample size and/or low case counts. Many of the tribal lands are located in geographically remote areas that are not accessible to many technology driven data collection sources, which makes it difficult to obtain reliable data. Finally, there may be misclassification bias in terms of identifying race/ethnicity, which is a well-documented problem with certain datasets.¹ Users of this section should take note of these limitations, and consider additional data sources (e.g., state and local surveys, qualitative data sources) to supplement information provided here.

View National-level Tribal Data

To access national data and indicators available in SAPPET for AI/AN population, click here.

Additional Resources

To access additional resources on AI/AN population and use of epidemiological data in prevention planning, please visit the 'Additional Resources' section.

Useful Links:

1.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035882/
2.http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf
3.http://archive.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2012SummNatFindDetTables/NationalFindings/NSDUHresults2012.htm
4.http://www.samhsa.gov/tribal-affairs
5.http://www.samhsa.gov/capt/tools-learning-resources