“Canadian aboriginal elites are now demanding more…than just the maintenance of their control over educational financial assistance for aboriginal youth. They’re demanding complete control over the entire aboriginal education system itself!  

“Unfortunately, when considering the causes of low academic achievement on the part of aboriginal youth, it is apparently ‘verboten’…to ever publicly ask or debate whether or not the “separate but equal” status quo might be contributing to this disastrous situation (THAT might threaten egos, funding, control over funding, and Indian industry jobs). Rather…their solution is for Canada and the provinces to pour more money into the existing dysfunctional situation, and to give aboriginal elites more control over it…”

–Peter Best “Lack of education is at the heart of aboriginal peoples’ cultural underdevelopment, and their inability to participate in the Canadian workforce. Improvements in education, therefore, are directly linked to solving other problems that are symbols of a marginalized existence — poverty, poor health, violence…, suicides, child abuse, and so on — caused by the gap in cultural development. 

“Poor identification of the problem, however, is being impeded by misguided efforts to improve aboriginal peoples’ “low self-esteem”. Many Canadians believe it is inappropriate to criticize aboriginal educational initiatives because of the terrible injustices that have been perpetrated in that area in the past. They argue that aboriginal peoples should be allowed to “make their own mistakes”, and it is inappropriate for “white people” to “tell them what to do”.   Continue reading ‘Aboriginal Education’ →