The new buffalo : the struggle for Aboriginal post-secondary education in Canada

Summary: For centuries, the buffalo met virtually every need of the First Nations peoples of the Great Plains, from food to shelter. Today, many in the First Nations feel there is a "new buffalo" that will be the key to survival: education. Since the time of the first treaties, however, First Nations poeple have struggled for access to post-secondary education. Despite formal commitments to expand post -secondary education for Aboriginal peoples, successive Canadian governments have continued to place obstacles in the way of this goal. The New Buffalo is the first comprehensive look at the history and policy of Aboriginal higher education in Canada, an issue that has spraked civic protests and institutional upheaval across the country, Blair Stonechild traces Aboriginal post-secondary education policy from its earliest begnnings as a government tool for assimilation and cultural suppression to its development as a means of Aboriginal self-determination and self-government. He looks in particular at the history of th struggle for the creations of Aboriginal -controlled institutions such as Manitou Collge and First Nations Univeristy. with first-hand knowledge and personal experience of the Aboriginal education system, Stonechild goes beyong the statistics to reveal the shocking disparity between the access to post-secondary education to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Other Formats and Editions