A history clearly unlike any other region in the U.S., an indigenous population with unique cultural patterns, and a physical environment that can only be described with positive and negative superlatives, have all combined to influence the making of a complex tripartite educational system for a large portion of Alaska's people. Two parts of the system are the responsibility of the State, i.e., a group of local districts and boards with authority delegated by the State Legislature and the State-Operated Schools influenced directly by legislative act and State Board of Education regulations. The third element of the tripartite is the Federal system of rural schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Each component of the Federal-State rural system has similar educational patterns and purposes. The document also explains the legal basis for Native education, educational goals and programs, statements by political figures and resolutions by governmental agencies; and the philosophy, goals, faculty and pupil composition of the State-Operated schools. The 9 tables cover such things as teacher qualifications, pupil-teacher ratios, enrollment trends, and age-grade distributions. (KM)