Several years have passed since the adoption by the United Nations of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Yet, what changes have happened in the lives of Indigenous peoples for whom the Declaration was written? This paper employs a framework of Indigenous educational theory to focus on the case of the Ainu of Japan and examines what kind of changes could be happening vis-a-vis Ainu education but are not. I explain the current stalled state of deliberations regarding implementation of the UNDRIP, outline the current resource base for an Ainu-run education system, and argue that it is the duty of the Japanese government to provide the infrastructure and expertise necessary to implement such an educational initiative, as well as to aid the Ainu in overcoming "internalized oppression" which currently hampers many Ainu from embracing their Ainu identity and thereby vocally advocating their rights to an Indigenously driven Ainu education. I briefly touch upon the relevance of the Ainu situation to other Asian Indigenous peoples and contend that the Ainu case provides one useful watermark for comparison with other Indigenous peoples' scenarios. (Contains 4 notes.)