ABSTRACT
We begin with the statements above to highlight the interface of language, culture and self-determination in Indigenous education. Throughout the world, Indigenous languages and the knowledge they encode constitute the living heart of family-and community-based education. It is this living heart that colonial regimes have sought to still and destroy. State-sponsored schooling has been a primary instrument for linguistic and cultural genocide (Skutnabb-Kangas and Dunbar 2010). Yet, in recent years, grass-roots Indigenous movements have reclaimed education control over the content and medium of instruction in schools serving Indigenous students. Although still facing many challenges, these initiatives are having positive effects on Indigenous language and culture revitalization and student achievement (Hornberger 2008; May and Aikman 2003). In this chapter we examine these processes and the issues they raise for Indigenous self-determination and linguistic human rights. We preface our discussion with some background information and key terms.
