This book examines the history of education of indigenous peoples in circumpolar countries of the Western world and contemporary issues in schooling there. It offers perspectives on school and society in villages spread across the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. More commonalities than differences are found, and regardless of the region, four historical periods of educational development are identified: (1) introduction of missionary and government schools soon after Western contact, which emulated the values of the majority society of that day, and Native passivity towards their establishment; (2) appearance of dissatisfaction with the education system among a few Native groups; (3) assertive Native rejection of inappropriate school systems, supported by newly established Native political organizations and academicians and polarized around the goals of either cultural replacement or cultural continuity; and (4) attainment of various political provisions that accommodate Native self-determination. Common contemporary issues include the organizational structure of schools, the location of school governance, culturally relevant curriculum, language of instruction, teacher preparation and development, and student achievement. The book contends that the lessons learned in the Far North have relevance for minority populations in all multicultural societies. Their conclusions relate to the school as a social system, relative size and power in the school-community relationship, dimensions of integration, community-level phenomena, balance between systems, schooling as a socialization process, the macro and micro phenomena of school, and education as cultural process and identity formation. (Contains 133 references and an index.) (TD)