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The Indian Control of Indian Education (ICIE) (1972) policy document was, and continues to be, evidence of the power of Aboriginal peoples in Canada working together to speak up against government assimilationist policies. The voices in this article represent four generations of Indigenous scholars who were either involved in creating or have been influenced by ICIE. The federal government's proposed Bill on First Nation Education is also critiqued in relation to the principles of ICIE. The article shares lessons learned about ICIE, reflections on power and knowledge, and visions for reciprocal relationships that truly embody the ICIE values articulated over 40 years ago. The principles about local control; parental engagement; Indigenous knowledge, culture, and language; Indigenous teachers; and better prepared non-Indigenous teachers are still as relevant and important as they were 40 years ago. The challenge remains to put these principles into everyday educational practice now and for the next 40 years.
Introduction
The Indian Control of Indian Education (ICIE) (1972) policy document was, and continues to be, evidence of the power of Aboriginal1 peoples in Canada working together to speak up against government assimilationist policies. Today, we once again find ourselves in the all too familiar territory of calling on our allies to speak out and against the proposed federal government's Bill on First Nation Education. As Verna J. Kirkness states, "In response to 19692 our people came together; we will now need to do the same again for this act" (personal communication, December 14, 2013). In addition to the urgent call for national unity, we need to ensure the protection of the next seven generations' rights to good quality education that truly honours Indigenous ways of knowing and being, languages, values, and cultures. As indicated in the ICIE policy:
We want education to give our children the knowledge to understand and be proud of themselves and the knowledge to understand the world around them. (National Indian Brotherhood, 1972, p. 1)
The annual theme issue of the Canadian Journal of Native Education is sponsored by the Indigenous Education Institute of Canada, in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, which is located on the traditional and unceded land of the Musqueam First Nation. This land greets the waves of...