This book traces the development of tribally controlled colleges (TCC), placing them in a historical context within Native American higher education and within the junior and community college movement. It examines the first 10 years of the movement, focusing in particular on six TCC's and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), designed to promote unity among TCC's. Chapter I discusses the antecedents of the TCC's, their historical legacy, and the context of the junior and community college movement. Chapters II through VII provide in-depth histories of: Navajo Community College (Arizona), Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University (California), Oglala Lakota College (South Dakota), Sinte Gleska College (South Dakota), Turtle Mountain Community College (North Dakota), and Standing Rock Community College (North Dakota). Focusing largely on the period between 1968 and 1978, each historical profile looks at the founding of the college, fund raising, curriculum, philosophy, politics, and developments at the college after 1978. Chapter VIII discusses the AIHEC's background and needs, founding, legislation, and recent developments. Chapter IX profiles the second and third wave of TCC's. It includes discussions of the development of 15 TCC's. Chapter X offers conclusions, stressing the importance of the support of tribal council legislation and tribal community activism, and contending that the philosophy and curricula of TCC's make them unique in the community college movement. An appendix reviews the study's methodology, sources, and definitions. (MAB)