Extracting northern knowledge: Tracing the history of post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut

This article traces the historical development of post-secondary education in the Western and Eastern Arctic from the end of the Second World War to the late 1980s and explores the role that southern Canadian universities have played in carrying out the socio-economic goals of nation building in the North. Writing from an interdisciplinary perspective, I argue that the history of higher education in the North should be situated within the context of settler colonialism, Canadian nationalism, resource extraction, and the struggle for Indigenous self-determination. The debate around a "bricks and mortar" northern university is ongoing, and this article brings attention to the questions and concerns of the past in order to inform present and future dialogue around post-secondary education in the North.