ALASKA NATIVE YOUTH AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD EDUCATION

Building on Richard Condon's discussions of education in the Central C anadian Arctic village of Holman, this paper uses 1995 survey data to describe Alaska Native high school students' perceptions of the purpos e of school, the quality of their schools, the degree of adult encoura gement they receive, their Native language skills, and their residenti al expectations. While Holman students did not perceive great educatio nal expectations from their parents, students in Alaskan villages are as likely to report lots of parental encouragement as are students who attend larger town or boarding schools. Only 15% of students in Holma n indicated they wanted to live someplace other than Holman when they got older, but 85% of Alaska Native students think they will live some place other than their home communities for most of the rest of their lives. The differences between adolescents in Holman and Alaska may be consequences of time. Oil revenues, the Alaska Native Claims Settleme nt Act, and the Molly Hootch decision in the 1970s predicated many cha nges in Alaska which in turn affected educational policies and practic es. Recent decisions affecting self-governance for Native peoples in t he Canadian Arctic are likely to accelerate similar changes.