Blue Quills University

{{Short description|University in Alberta, Canada}} {{Infobox university |name = University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills |native_name = University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills |native_name_lang = chp |image = University nuhelotʼįne thaiyotsʼį nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills logo.png |image_upright = .7 |caption = Blue Quills First Nations College logo |latin_name = |motto = |mottoeng = |established = 1971 |closed = |type = First Nations-controlled university |affiliation = |endowment = |officer_in_charge = |chairman = |chancellor = |president = Sherri Chisan |vice-president = |superintendent = |provost = |vice_chancellor = |rector = |principal = |dean = |director = |head_label = |head = |faculty = |staff = |students = |undergrad = |postgrad = |doctoral = |other = |city = St. Paul |state = |province = Alberta |country = Canada |coordinates = {{coord|54.0007|N|111.3699|W|format=dec|scale:60000_region:CA-AB|display=inline,title|name=Blue Quills University}} |campus = |former_names = Blue Quills Education Centre, Blue Quills First Nations College |free = |sports = |colors = |colours = |nickname = |mascot = |athletics = |affiliations = ACCC, CCAA, AACTI, NAIIHL, FNAHLC |website = {{url|www.bluequills.ca}} |logo = |footnotes = }}

'''University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills''' (University nn Blue Quills, formerly '''Blue Quills Education Centre''' and '''Blue Quills First Nations College (BQFNC)''') is a First Nations owned and operated university in Canada, the first of its kind in the country.<ref name=ammsa>{{cite news|url=http://www.ammsa.com/publications/alberta-sweetgrass/blue-quills-celebrates-new-status-Indigenous-controlled-university|title=Blue Quills celebrates new status as Indigenous-controlled university |author=Shari Narine Sweetgrass|volume=23|issue=1|date=2015}}</ref> The university is jointly owned by seven First Nation band governments: Beaver Lake, Cold Lake, Frog Lake, Whitefish Lake, Heart Lake, Kehewin, and Saddle Lake.

The university is not provincially chartered, unlike all other universities in Alberta but instead incorporated by federal statute.<ref name=ammsa/> The institution was founded as an Indian residential school in the 1930s before being occupied by a protest movement in 1970 and then transferred to Indigenous control in 1971.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/2017/canadathestoryofus/how-stanley-redcrow-and-first-nations-activists-reclaimed-the-blue-quills-residential-school-1.4108629|title=How Stanley Redcrow and First Nations activists reclaimed the Blue Quills Residential School|date=May 10, 2017|work=CBC|access-date=January 31, 2019}}</ref> It was declared a university on September 1, 2015.

Blue Quills is a member of the National Association of Indigenous Institutes of Higher Learning and the First Nation Adult and Higher Education Consortium, a non-profit organization in Western Canada, which coordinates the efforts of its members to provide quality adult and higher education, controlled entirely by people of the First Nations.<ref>http://www.fnahec.org/ First Nation & Adult Higher Education Consortium</ref> The university hosts an annual cultural camp in May.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/mdp/program/field-placements/2013/blue-quills.html|title=Blue Quills First Nations College, Alberta|website=University of Winnipeg|access-date=January 31, 2019}}</ref>

== History ==

BQFNC was the first Indigenous controlled and operated post secondary educational institution in Canada.<ref>[http://www.bluequills.ca/welcome/about-us/history/ Blue Quills First Nations College history]</ref> The brick school was built in 1931 on Blue Quills First Nation Indian Reserve and operated as a '''Blue Quills Indian Residential School''' until 1970. In July 1970 it was taken over by community members through peaceful protest and occupation. Negotiations with then Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien, took place and agreement was signed on July 31, 1970, transferring the operations of Blue Quills to the Native Education Council. The '''Blue Quills First Nation College''' ('''Blue Quills Education Centre''') opened in September 1971.<ref name=":0" /> In November 2000, the college was accredited by the [http://niab-accreditation.com/about-niab.html First Nations Accreditation Board]. In September 2015 the Blue Quills First Nation College became {{interlanguage link|University nuhelotʼįne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills|qid=Q4929650|short=s}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bluequills.ca/welcome/about-us/|title=University Blue Quills - About Us|date=January 31, 2019|website=University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills|access-date=January 31, 2019|archive-date=February 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219005356/http://www.bluequills.ca/welcome/about-us/|url-status=dead}}</ref> a name which includes both Dene and Cree language words for the school.<ref name="as2015">{{cite news |last1=Narine |first1=Shari |title=Blue Quills celebrates new status as Indigenous-controlled university |url=https://www.ammsa.com/publications/alberta-sweetgrass/blue-quills-celebrates-new-status-Indigenous-controlled-university |access-date=22 April 2021 |work=Alberta Sweetgrass |issue=23:1 |publisher=Ammsa.com |date=2015 |language=en}}</ref>

==Scholarships and bursaries==

University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills scholarships for Aboriginal and First Nations students include: Theodore R. Campbell Scholarship.

==See also== * List of tribal colleges and universities * Louise Bernice Halfe, former student

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{North American Tribal Colleges and Universities}} {{Universities in Alberta|college=yes|private=yes|technical=yes}}

Category:Universities in Alberta Category:Indigenous universities and colleges in North America Category:First Nations education in Canada Category:Community colleges in Canada Category:Universities and colleges established in 1971 Category:1971 establishments in Alberta Category:First Nations in Alberta