Reform of Aboriginal Studies Curriculum Must be Led by Aboriginal Persons
At our Founding Meeting a year ago, we agreed that Aboriginal teachers, education activists, and leaders must be the decision-makers, or final arbiters, on the reforms required to improve the content and delivery of Aboriginal Studies curriculum. Taking these precautions is the only way to ENSURE that our the Canadian school curriculum reforms we advocate will ACTUALLY result in the inclusion and presentation of Aboriginal history, culture and current issues from an Aboriginal perspective.

The Aboriginal Advisory Council
During our lengthy discussion on how to maximize our effectiveness while ensuring that ultimate decision-making is in the hands of Aboriginal persons, Bruce Elijah (Oneida) and Dan Smoke (Seneca) shared with us the operating principles of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. In specific, we reviewed the way in which the Chiefs of the various Nations come together in the Confederacy Council. We emerged from this meeting with clarity that each partner offers diverse strengths, but we must develop our own unique 'checks and balances' system, in the CAAS, to ensure we do our work in a good way.

As a result, it is now our operating principle that work of our Coordinators and working groups will be vetted by the members of the Aboriginal Advisory Circle. We are growing the Coalition slowly and carefully, but over the coming months, we will be expanding the representation in the Circle to include a wider diversity of Peoples from other regions. (Stay tuned for developments ...)

The work of the CAAS requires the collaboration of all Peoples
As a group, the CAAS is concerned exclusively with what is being taught in provincial and territorial elementary and secondary schools. The process of improving schools on First Nations territories and in other Aboriginal communities is already underway, under the guidance of First Nations and other Aboriginal organizations, educators and parents. Those efforts do not require interventions from a national group such as the CAAS.

Across Canada, provincial and territorial schools and school boards tend to be populated predominantly by non-Aboriginal persons. Certainly, non-Aboriginal persons hold most of the management and decision-making positions in the education field. For these reasons, the involvement of non-Aboriginal people is vital to the success of our Coalition's work.

Given these dynamics, the CAAS is grappling with a workable process for our organization. Aboriginal CAAS members must make the decisions about curriculum content and delivery, but non-Aboriginal persons may be the best-equipped to decide how to effectively intervene to bring about those changes.

We strive to build relationships of trust between all those who will join in partnership on our goals. However, we recognize that this is not an easy task, because our work does not begin with a 'clean slate'. The CAAS has developed to meet needs arising from the social culture and history of Canada: its colonial policies of cultural eradication, and - in specific - the history of neglect or indifference to the culture and learning needs of Aboriginal children on the part of provincial and territorial education officials across Canada. Our task is to promote healing and growing, through learning and understanding.

A CAAS priority: Aboriginal curriculum professional development resources
Non-Aboriginal teachers have many issues and obstacles to overcome in delivering an honest and thoughtful Aboriginal Studies curriculum. Many teachers want practical suggestions and resources, so work in this area is a very high priority to our group.

We have submitted funding proposals to publish a manual that will provide curriculum resources, ideas and stories from other teachers. We are also planning to put information of this type on our website, which is currently being designed. The identification of interesting resources, exciting approaches and other 'exemplary practices' would come from our network - people like you! - and from the SAS research/findings. Identification of these teachers will also help build our network, which is why we describe our 2000/01 plans as 'action research'. Let Ann or Renee know if you can contribute with resources, or are acquainted with one of these 'exemplary' teachers.

CAAS needs a "LOGO" - we're offering a prize!
You'll agree that our letterhead would look a lot more interesting with a logo on it. However, as a group with no artists among our founding members and almost no cash, we are forced to go to print with our inaugural newsletter being - sadly - well... 'logo-less'.