Pubdate: Sun, 28 Sep 2008
Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)
Copyright: 2008 The Florida Times-Union
Contact: http://www.jacksonville.com/aboutus/letters-to-editor.shtml
Website: http://www.times-union.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/155

DRUGS, ALCOHOL WORSENING PROBLEMS FOR SEMINOLES

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - The average age at death among Seminole Indians in
Florida has dropped by 12 years in the past decade, according to a
newspaper analysis, to below age 50.

Figures obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel show 11 of the
tribe's 17 recorded deaths in 2008 have been related to drugs or
alcohol. Further, the average age of a Seminole at death has dropped
from nearly 60 in 1997 to 48 in 2007.

That's well below the average age statewide of 73 years
old.

"I call it the 'Rez disease,'" said Jarrid Smith, a 23-year-old former
Florida Atlantic football player.

Smith said at least seven of his friends and former classmates are
dead, in jail or in rehabilitation facilities.

"These things have been going on for too long. Progress is slow. I am
afraid of losing more people," Smith said, acknowledging he might
upset tribal leaders by publicly commenting about the issue.

Tribal leaders declined comment for the story published Sunday, citing
privacy concerns, spokesman Gary Bitner said.

Some suggested the tribe's staggering wealth, earned from its gaming
operations, have left young members without life balance. The tribe
provides each member a free education, guaranteed job and an income of
roughly $120,000 a year.

Zena Simmons, a 24-year-old Seminole and Florida Atlantic student,
said she sees a correlation between the money and excess. So does her
sister, 29-year-old Thomasine Jumper, who is now jailed for drug and
traffic offenses in Collier County.

"You use that money, so you don't have to work," Jumper said. "Maybe
the lifestyle on the rez is too easy. I have not taken advantage of
the opportunities, but they are there."

There is almost an expectation, Simmons said, that loved ones will die
soon. She has lost an uncle and brother to alcohol-related crashes,
and at least two friends to suicide and drugs.

"You grow numb to it, so when someone dies you already accept it," she
said.