by Ann Pohl
May, 2000

PART 1: The Collective Approach

A Coalition is Born

It is Spring, 2000 and something very exciting is sprouting: the Coalition for the Advancement of Aboriginal Studies (CAAS). And its about time, as the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples says:

"Public education is essential in confronting the problems posed by ignorance and misconceptions regarding our place in Canadian history and the nature of our rights. All Canadians should have the knowledge to understand our situation, as well as the knowledge that what we have sought all along is mutual respect and coexistence."

From the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Robert Debassige, quoted in Volume 5; Chapter 4: Building Awareness and Understanding; pg. 91

After an exploratory meeting in Ottawa in December, 1998, the Coalition was born during a two-day gathering on the Oneida Territory two months later. The founding members of our Coalition are few but represent a cross-section of interested parties: traditional educators, mainstream educators, academics, Aboriginal solidarity and social justice activists - and a solid core of these individuals are Aboriginal. The groups represented at this founding meeting were: the Aboriginal Rights Coalition, the All Native Circle Conference of the United Church of Canada, the Canadian Teachers Federation, and Tsi-niyukwaliho:tu (the Oneida Traditional Learning Centre).

At Oneida, a few of us were mandated to take the principles we agreed to during this founding meeting, and formalize these ideas into a "Statement of Purpose".

CAAS Statement of Purpose

• Guided by Traditional values, the Coalition strives to propel forward a variety of initiatives to achieve inclusion of accurate and valid Aboriginal studies in all elementary and secondary schools across Canada. Our goal is to ensure that all students who graduate from Canadian schools achieve a minimal set of learning expectations which reflect Aboriginal perspectives on First Peoples' and Canadian history and culture.
  
• Our efforts focus on:
  
  · supporting the implementation of curriculum and resource policies directed at inclusion of accurate and valid Aboriginal studies in all non-Aboriginal controlled schools;
  
  · supporting teaching staff in the challenges implied by our mandate;
  
  · supporting development of and accessibility to Aboriginal-perspective curriculum resources;
  
  · improving cross-cultural awareness at all levels of the education system across Canada.

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