In this paper, I hypothesize that Indigenous populations in tribal areas fare better than those populations residing outside of tribal areas because of stronger social ties due to higher levels of integration and regulation. I review some of the studies that have been undertaken to measure mental health outcomes and suicide rates for the Indigenous populations in the US and Canada, paying close attention to the studies that describe differences between populations residing in tribal areas compared to those who do not. I then use a panethnicity/race as a fundamental cause approach to explain why Indigenous populations have disparate mental health outcomes compared to the rest of the population, utilizing structural genocide to explain diminished integration and regulation. Pooling data from the National Drug Use and Health Survey (NSDUH), 2014-2017, I test this hypothesis controlling for sociodemographic variables. The results are mixed. On measures of serious psychological distress (SPD), my results are consistent with Park-Lees et al (2018). findings that there is no significant difference between these populations. However, there is a significant difference in serious thoughts of suicide. This contradicts Park-Lee et al. findings that though people residing in tribal areas had a lower rate than those who resided outside of tribal areas-the difference was not statistically significant using a T-test (2018). I found in my regression that after controlling for gender, age, marital status, education and income that living in tribal areas lowered one's odd of having serious thought of suicide by over 30%.
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