Basic to a progressive and meaningful program of education which will shape Indian destiny for America's tomorrow is an understanding of past educational endeavors. The text surveys, therefore, former Federal policies and highlights the pioneering work which typifies such schools as the Sherman Indian High School (Riverside, California), Haskell Indian Junior College (Lawrence, Kansas), and Navajo Community College (Chinle, Arizona). Education at the reservation level has been hampered by poor facilities, the isolation of training centers, the caliber of available teachers, and the lack of efforts to fuse the student's native Indian beliefs and attitudes with the alien white culture. With the appointment of Louis R. Bruce as Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1969, the third Indian to hold this office, modernization of the Bureau was initiated and improvement of Indian services, including education, was called for. Two requirements for fitting Indian youths to meet the challenges of the electronic age -- technical training and financial student assistance -- are also discussed. The text begins with a brief discussion of foreign educational systems and their influences upon U.S. educational development. Additional chapters discuss Indian culture and language, and compare Indian educational development in the U.S. with that in Canada, Mexico, and South America. A list of 23 collateral readings (1935-71) covers modern education in general and Indian education. (Author/KM)