Describes a research project which resulted in publication, "The Julian Tribe," and showed how lost Micmac tribal heritage was reconstructed from church, census, county, provincial, and federal records when no tribal printed or secondary accounts or oral tradition remained. (NEC)

Through a story of experiences at a library and two museums, a Cree university student demonstrates how such institutions fail to adequately respect and portray Native culture, despite good intentions. (TD)

A survey of 78 adults and adolescents of Cree ancestry in Fisher River, Manitoba, examined language proficiency, language use, and attitudes about language use in various public and private contexts. Generational differences on several measures suggest that adults were more favorable than teenagers toward Cree language maintenance and vitality.…

Examines the importance and centrality of orality, rather than literacy, in the shared lives of the Cree of northern Alberta. Discusses orality consciousness related to the practice of shared memories and personal and communal healing during the "dance of the ancestors" or "ghost dance." Includes a short history of the Cree…

Supports the conversion of federal schools to band controlled schools, arguing that education patterns of federal schools are either inadequate or unsuitable to provide the education Indian students need. Outlines development of Indian education from 1600-1933, provides rationale for Indian control, and discusses four problems with band control.…

In most cases, Canadian reservation schools that are termed "band controlled" schools are actually controlled by the federal government, because of fiscal policy constraints. A first step toward true band control would be the articulation of formal educational policies by the band. Contains 25 references. (Author/SV)

Stan Wilson (Cree), professor at the University of Alberta, discusses a spiritual experience that led him to a greater understanding of the life of his Native ancestors. Suggests that indigenous peoples need to shift attention to the spirituality that kept their ancestors in harmony with the environment and to recognize spiritual knowledge through…

Offers insights into early development and descriptions of evolving programs and practices of five Canadian Indian survival schools: Wandering Spirit (Toronto), Kahnawake (near Montreal), Plains Indian Cultural (Calgary), Saskatoon Native (Saskatoon), and Spirit Rising (Vancouver). Demonstrates how Indian cultures can recreate themselves in the…

Examines underlying concepts in traditional Plains Indian arts and encourages incorporation of traditional concepts into contemporary art education. Discusses spiritual foundations, holism, art for art's sake, portability, body art, conservation, tribal identity, aesthetic features, age/sex differentiation in art production, white society's…

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada funds education only for on-reserve band members; off-reserve residents must pay tuition to attend reserve schools. Moose Cree Educational Authority proposes "reverse tuition agreements" whereby local school boards purchase services from First Nations for off-reserve band members. Difficulties…

The Seabird Island Community School is a successful band-controlled school that has involved Indian people in the educational process, developed a strong sense of Indian identity in students, and promoted both cultural and academic goals. Numerous and varied links between community and school are a key to the school's success. (JHZ)

From 1972 to 1982 the Canadian federal government made unilateral decisions about Indian education while purporting to accept the National Indian Brotherhood's policy document, "Indian Control of Indian Education." Examples include the government's handling of cuts in the noon lunch supplement program, educational services to off-reserve…

Using a participatory-collaborative research design, nine Canadian-Native college students were interviewed to evaluate a two-week community-based course that uses Indigenous and Western knowledge systems to study environmental issues and impacts from Indigenous perspectives. Discusses issues in hands-on learning in First Nations communities,…

Native identity as conceived by Native people is not incorporated meaningfully into Ontario's rational, standardized curriculum. The omission of Native languages and understandings perpetuates the erroneous colonial notion of Native inferiority. First Nations education as sui generis should affirm the Native way of life through the use of Native…

A Canadian teacher-educator's research into what has meaning for Bush Cree students became a reciprocal learning-teaching relationship. What emerged is a reverence for the ordinary, and the researcher's realization that in Cree society, the medium and the message are one, just as education and culture are one. Contains photographs used in the…