ABSTRACT
There is a temptation to give the colonists credit for addressing Native American higher education. The apparent colonial interest in Native American higher education was an artificial one on the part of both the interested English public and the educational administrators themselves. The primary characteristic influencing Native American higher education in the colonial period was one that would set a precedent that would be a long time in overcoming, the lack of local or self-control. The colonists devoted a great deal of effort to Indian education, but did so without consulting the Indians. The question of why the loss of the colonial interest in Native American higher education goes to the point about colonial efforts having proselytizing and civilizing purposes instead of more classical educational objectives. The federal support of the tribal colleges represents an expansion of the federal-Indian trust relationship, not a prelude to its disappearance.
