Ottawa – The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is pleased to award its highest honour to Marie Battiste, Professor of Education and Coordinator of the Indian and Northern Education Program at the University of Saskatchewan.

CAUT’s Distinguished Academic Award is given annually to an academic who has made extraordinary contributions as a teacher, as a researcher, and in service to the community.

“Dr. Battiste has excelled in every aspect of her work as an academic. She is a superb teacher, an excellent scholar and has made major contributions to the community,” said Wayne Peters, President of CAUT. “She is a truly exemplary academic who has forged new paths for aboriginal education in Canada and internationally.”

Peters noted that Dr. Battiste has worked on a wide range of subjects — literacy, cognitive imperialism, linguistic and cultural integrity, indigenous knowledge and humanities, and decolonization of Aboriginal education.

A Mi’kmaq, from the Potlotek First Nation in Cape Breton, Dr. Battiste has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Maine and by St. Mary’s University. She is currently the Principal Investigator in a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded project, Animating Mi’kmaq Humanities. She has been recognized with the Alumni Achievement Award by the University of Maine and received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in education from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. She also received the 2000 First Peoples Publishing Award for her book, Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage: A Global Challenge, from Saskatchewan Book Awards.

Previous recipients of the CAUT Distinguished Academic Award are Bernard Robaire (McGill), Chad Gaffield (Ottawa), John Loxley (Manitoba), Guy Rocher (Montreal), Barry Grant (Brock), Monique Cormier (Montreal) and Lee Lorch (York).

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