An Epidemic of Gas Sniffing Decimates Arctic Indian Tribe

The New York Times ^ | March 4, 2001 | By MARY ROGAN Photographs by ARLENE GOTTFRIED

[vannrox]

Not the kind of thing you read about every day.

[B Knotts]

Oh.

That kind of gas.

Never mind.

[Alberta's Child]

The Innu trace their problems with poverty and substance abuse to government relocations that forced them to give up their nomadic way of life.

Well, that's just precious, isn't it? They trace their problems to government relocations, so now they're asking the government to come and take their children away?

They also attribute their current state to the chronic physical and sexual abuse their children suffered when they were forced to attend Christian residential schools from the 1950's through the 1970's. Today, more than half the 300 children in Sheshatshiu between the ages of 5 and 14 have sniffed gasoline, and at least 20 percent are regular users.

Interesting chain of logic. A child who is between the ages of 5 and 14 today was born between 1988 and 1997.

[guitfiddlist]

They've been deprived. Once enrolled in proper American public schools, they'll be sniffing quality products such as glue, cocaine, and crystal meth in no time.

[Billthedrill]

Yeah, my first thought as well. I feel for the kids, but that's one heckuva headline...

[Cogadh na Sith]

I, for one, am relieved the kids are only huffing petroleum products and not all the muktuk farts in the igloos.

[bandlength]

don't forget the gold paint. . .

[bandlength]

don't forget the gold paint. . .

[Dog Gone]

The officers also said that sniffing gas is not illegal in Davis Inlet, so they are not allowed to take the bags away from the children. "All we can do is put them out when they set themselves on fire," one officer added.

I guess that's better than letting them freeze to death.

Arguably.

[weikel]

Let the addicts kill themselves no WOD this kind of thing is nature's genepool filter on stupidity.

[PsyOp]

This is your brain on high-octane..

[stilts]

I find the plight of these children in this deadend town to be horribly sad. As for the reasons for there terrible plight I am less moved by the historical relocations than I am by the parents violent and abusive treatment of their children. Sounds a bit like life in Hell.

[Jonathon Spectre]

Um, what's so great about sniffing gasoline?

I'm confused.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

Weren't 'land rights' and 'self-determination' going to fix all this, Vannrox?

That's what we've been promised here, where the situation is just as bad, amongst desert aboriginal children.

[LenS]

Interesting chain of logic. A child who is between the ages of 5 and 14 today was born between 1988 and 1997.

Well, there is still a possible link there but the NY Times is afraid to actually go there. Abused children tend to be abusers. So the past abuse is being passed on to each generation. But for the Times to say that might imply that homosexuality is taught/learned through early experiences. They'd rather just leave it as an indictment of Christianity.

[Consort]

...Innu flag.

[Restorer]

Um, what's so great about sniffing gasoline?

Presumably about the same as sniffing glue, although probably a lot more toxic.

When I lived in the SW about 15 years ago, this was just becoming popular among the Navajo kids. A dozen of them could stay high all day on a quart of gas. Got to admit it's a lot cheaper and more available than most drugs.

[SSN558]

"When I lived in the SW about 15 years ago, this was just becoming popular among the Navajo kids"

Yes, if you have ever attended a pow-wow you can witness first hand what goes on at the reservation. There is a lot of addiction. A few Indians are brain damaged beyond repair and continue to sniff glue and paint. At no less a pow-wow or celebration of self, they celebrate by slowly killing themselves. Socialism at work.

[eno_]

Shhhhhhhh! People might figure out the WoD has no effect on addiction. The hardcore will huff gas. The rest of us wouldn't try heroin even if it was legal. The raids and interdiction and siezures and prisons and siezures benefit who?