Cultural education for and by whom?: Indigenous education, cultural education centres, activism and the struggle for sovereignty in the 1970s

This thesis investigates the Cultural Education Program, a Canadian federal government program which began in 1971 with goals to fund cultural education centres for Indigenous citizens. As Red-Power activism ignited post-White Paper, government programs such as the Cultural Education Program were offered as remedies. Through archival research, primarily through government correspondence, this thesis examines the government's attempt to address educational inequity through the cultural education program and the continuous Indigenous activism that was required to maintain funding and support. The program was plagued by unclear intentions and fluctuating funding and application requirements. Decentralization of power was the goal of many Indigenous organizations in entering into partnerships with the program. However, this was not attained as Indian and Northern Affairs alone governed the program without Indigenous input throughout the 1970s. Program fiscal allotments were frequently millions of dollars more than what was dispersed, and rejections of certain funding requests appeared arbitrary and without reasonable cause. Issues with the program are highlighted through case studies on fiscal stewardship and the Indigenous activism required to keep Coqualeetza Education Centre, a center relying on cultural education funding, operational.