Abstract:

Fifty years ago, Indigenous Elders and leaders drafted their response to the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy (White Paper of 1969). Their formal re-buttal, Citizens Plus (Red Paper), published in 1970, was a turning point in Indigenous education policy. It marked the beginning of the shift away from government-controlled, assimilationist educational policies to greater Indigenous control over funding and ped-agogical methods. The Red Paper refuted the White Paper’s main conclusions and stat-ed that Indigenous Peoples are citizens plus because the federal government is legally bound to provide Indigenous Peoples with services in exchange for the use of the land they occupy. The most important Indigenous rights to be upheld included education, health care, Aboriginal status, and Aboriginal title. These unique rights recognized that Indigenous Peoples are the original owners of all the natural resources on their tradition-al treaty lands. The Red Paper became a political turning point for Indigenous Peoples in Canada by presenting an Indigenous vision for a new political and legal relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples based on Aboriginal and treaty rights. Since the 1970s, Indigenous leaders have struggled to maintain control of educational fund-ing while having to abide by provincial standards of educational curricula.