Aboriginal Higher Education and Indigenous Students

Higher Education in Canada began in the late 1700s with the establishment of the first universities in Quebec and New Brunswick (Jones, 2014). While these institutions were often built upon unceded Aboriginal lands, Aboriginal peoples' participation in higher education did not begin until the late 1960s. There were a few early participants (e.g., post WWII) but participation at that time meant giving up one's status as a First Nations person. This act of assimilation occurred in Canada throughout its educational systems' policies and practices (e.g., residential schools and day schools for K-12). The participation shift that took hold in the late 1960s and 1970s was due to several factors including: development of Aboriginal specific programs and services; establishment of Aboriginal post-secondary funding programs; and increased high school completion rates. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the policy, program, and practice changes that have resulted in slowly transforming Canada's higher education system from a tool of assimilation to one of Indigenous empowerment and decolonization. The chapter will explore ideas of what the purpose of higher education is in relation to Indigenous understandings of life, work, and civic engagement.