As we go into the new millennium, there is renewed hope among American Indians for a better life. However, in viewing the statistics regarding American Indians and chemical dependency, we realize the situation is not improving. In fact, American Indians enter chemical dependency treatment at a disproportionately higher rate than the general population. This study utilizes qualitative research as well as culturally appropriate research methodology to examine how chemical dependency came to the Oyate (people). It will examine the relationship between the unacceptable high rates of alcoholism in Indian Country and federal Indian policy. It will look at the human face of federal Indian policy and how that may have influenced the language, culture, and spirituality of Indigenous Peoples as it relates to chemical dependency. Nascent Indigenous researchers long have pointed out the fact that federal Indian policy influenced the current predicament of the chemically dependent American Indian. This study will offer a theory on the dynamic nature of this relationship, and how it affects Indigenous Peoples.