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Like a virulent plague, alcohol buries Passamaquoddy tribal members twice and sometimes three times as often as other Maine men and women.

A 30-year survey reviewing deaths between 1964 and 1993 shows their homicide rate is seven times higher than the state average. They die by suicides and car accidents nearly twice as often. Deaths due to cirrhosis of the liver are three times as high among the 1,300-member tribe, which lives on two reserves in northeastern Maine.

The common cause lurking behind these high death rates, tribal health workers say, is alcohol abuse.

Maine's Passamaquoddy tribe is no different from other American Indians throughout the country who struggle with alcoholism.

While the alcohol-related death rate for all races is 6.8 percent, it is 38.4 percent for American Indians, according to the Indian Health Service, a federal agency that oversees Indian health issues.

''One way or another, alcohol continues to cause half of all deaths of Indian people,'' says Patricia Mail, an alcohol treatment and prevention specialist who worked 16 years with the Indian Health Service, and is now a private health consultant.

Why is alcoholism so prevalent among American Indians?

Contrary to popular belief, Mail says, there is no conclusive proof that American Indians are genetically predisposed to becoming alcoholics.

''There are a lot of crackpot theories out there,'' says Mail. ''But the research on the metabolism of Indians is quite mixed. There has not been enough research done to allow any definite conclusions.''

High rates of poverty, unemployment, depression and discrimination are more likely factors contributing to American Indian alcohol affliction, Mail says.

On Passamaquoddy reserves in Pleasant Point and Indian Township unemployment hovers around 50 percent.

''The poverty and conditions under which many Indian people live has created a climate or a subculture of drinking in Indian communities,'' Mail says. ''And when things become hopeless and people feel helpless, alcohol is a great sedative.''