Almost two-thirds of Canadians aged 15 and up reported gambling, with higher rates of gambling addiction occurring among Indigenous people, according to a study released by Statistics Canada last week.

These numbers can be misleading, however, because they don’t cover the generational trauma that fuels addictions among other mental illnesses, said Drew Lafond, the president of the Indigenous Bar Association.

“Any discussion regarding gaming and First Nations has to start with a historical perspective,” Lafond said.

Statistics Canada said they used data from the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), Gambling Rapid Response to do this study. In terms of risk for moderate to severe gambling issues, Indigenous people were three times more likely to experience that than non-Indigenous populations.