Growing up in a small Alberta community, with a large aboriginal population I really don't know how to frame this issue.
Where I grew up, native kids dropped out of school far more than non-natives, but at the same time, for those who did graduate, there were a large number of scholarships, bursaries and other programs, including guaranteed admissions into many university programs. Those who wanted to pursue higher education had an easier time than most of the non-natives, but there wasn't as much interest in getting to that point. This seems to be more the real issue to me: getting the kids to stay in school and go on to university or even just to trade school, and its not a situation unique to natives, although (speaking from my limited experience and anecdotal evidence related to me across northern Alberta) it seems to hit them harder. And with some of the Alberta bands, the kids who had "treaty status" had less impetus to drive them to further education because of the royalty payouts from the energy industry, which is within their rights, but short-sighted, because those royalties won't last forever.
From discussions with relatives in NE BC and Sasaktchewan, the situation sounded almost identical in those provinces as well: the main variable was whether the local band got a lot or a little money from energy and forestry companies.
Again, this is how it appeared from where I sat. I don't know how the situation varies into other parts of the country.
