This research project examines the multi-dynamic and multi-layered experiences of P'urhépecha communities of Michoacán, Mexico, in State educational processes in the last three quarters of the twentieth century. This project argues that P'urhépecha school subjects, despite being exposed to assimilationist policies exclusively designed to serve the interests of nationalist, homogenizing programs, have been instrumental in transforming education projects by turning them into critical platforms that seek to advance the concerns of P'urhépecha communities. This project departs with the establishment of the first bilingual projects in Michoacán (1930s), then examines the educational development projects of the 1950s-1980s, and ends with an analysis of the "new" P'urhépecha intelligentsia (1970s-1990s), particularly P'urhépecha individuals who come from teacher-training institutions (known in Mexico as Escuelas Normales) and P'urhépecha academics who hold graduate degrees and are part of the academic world or work as independent scholars. The history of Mexico's indigenous education has been largely institutional, providing rich details of educational policies and politics. Informed by Native American Studies interdisciplinary methodological research frameworks, such as archival research in multiple institutions, oral history, including open-ended oral interviews and informal conversations, and participatory fieldwork research, by de-centering the institutions and emphasizing the everyday experiences of the P'urhépecha, this project will elucidate on the interplays of local and regional historical processes in indigenous communities and will contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamism of the State as well as local native voices from their voices and perspectives as education processes unfolded.