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OTTAWA -- Twenty B.C. aboriginal students felt shivers of pride Tuesday night as federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice looked up to the public gallery of the Commons to acknowledge their nervous presence at the passage of historic legislation to let B.C. bands run their own schools.

Prentice was speaking after MPs unanimously agreed to fast-track passage Tuesday of legislation giving B.C. first nations the right to develop "culturally-relevant, community-tailored" curricula for on-reserve schools from kindergarten to Grade 12.

"There were butterflies in my stomach" when the eyes of MPs in the House of Commons followed Prentice's gaze as he spoke directly to the students, said Peggy Kotchea, 18, a Grade 11 student who has two boys, aged three and one.

"It was very intense. It was, 'omigod, we're finally doing it.' It was pretty amazing and a great experience. It's going to be a good story to tell my kids."

Community members in the Bella Bella and Fort Nelson first nations, many with memories of the infamous and often abusive residential school system, raised the money to send the students and chaperones to Parliament to see MPs from all parties passing Bill C-34.

"I thought that was awesome when the minister looked up," said Michelle Vickers, 17, of Bella Bella. "I felt that we actually do make a difference being here."

Both girls said they thought of the residential school legacy that wounded so many from their grandparents' generation.

Vickers said she agrees with Prentice that band-run schools will make a difference in B.C. and, when other provinces take up B.C.'s lead, across Canada.

"We cannot learn about us and who we are and what we can truly do until we know where we come from."

In his speech, Prentice said Fort Nelson's successful band-run Chalo school is a model for B.C. and the country. He said Quebec and most other provinces will follow B.C.'s lead with similar arrangements.

"If we are able to make the education system work, and if we are able to graduate bright, young, capable, articulate, dynamic children from high schools, then everything else will take care of itself Mr. Speaker, and this country will be a brighter place," Prentice said.

Prentice, Premier Gordon Campbell, and first nations representatives announced the agreement in July.

Curricula in participating native communities will be modified to include instruction in first nations languages, history and culture.

The bill must now be passed by the Senate before it becomes law.

The legislation will give aboriginal communities a direct role in both teacher and school certification as well as establishment of curriculum and exam standards.

There are an estimated 6,000 native students attending on-reserve schools and another 11,000 in off-reserve provincial schools. So far one-quarter of B.C.'s 200 first nations have indicated they want to form school boards.

An estimated 70 per cent of children living on reserves fail to graduate from high school. That grim statistic is cited by many native leaders to illustrate why aboriginal Canadians have higher rates of poverty and unemployment.

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