Fogwill describes the languages of the Northwest Territories and the demographics at the time of writing, noting that the NWT had the youngest population in Canada and the highest birthrate. The majority of members of the NWT Legislative Assembly and Cabinet were Aboriginal. Fogwill posits three main phases of education in the Northwest Territories: mission (1800s-1950), federal (mid 1940s-1970), and territorial (1967-). In addition, she tracks the discussions contributing to education reform in the NWT, including community testimony and assessments. Fogwill’s key theme is that NWT grade school, at the time of writing, was ill-equipped to provide education that would help a child advance professionally in the north. As such, if a child dropped out of school (and when Fogwill was writing, only 5% of Aboriginal people in Canada graduated grade 12) (s)he would be unprepared both for wage labour and for a traditional lifestyle. Possible solutions such as Dene Kede curriculum were just beginning to be developed/implemented at this time, and had not yet been evaluated.

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Fogwill, Lynn. “Chapter 16: Literacy: A Critical Element in the Survival of Aboriginal Languages.” In Alpha 94: Literacy and Cultural Development Strategies in Rural Areas, edited by Jean-Paul Hautecouer. 229-248. Toronto: Culture Concepts Publishers, 1994.