Sudburians honouring Cree teen's fight for better education

There is a strong Sudbury connection to a movement to honour a Northern Ontario teen whose fight to bring better education to remote First Nations communities was tragically cut short.

Attawapiskat First Nation member Shannen Koostachin will be honoured and remembered with a bronze sculpture and special installation in New Liskeard. Before she was killed in a collision in 2010, the 15-year-old was fighting hard to bring quality education to her own community, as well as other remote First Nations communities, which often struggle with substandard equipment and facilities.

Students in her own community attended school in cold, drafty portable trailers after it was discovered the land on which the school was built was contaminated with fuel.

Shannen organized the Attawapiskat School Campaign to advocate for better learning conditions. Her persistence earned political and community supporters far and wide, but her work to fight for better education on other First Nations ended when she passed away.

But her dream didn't die.

Jules Arita Koostachin, a relative of Shannen's who lives in Sudbury and is the equity and diversity adviser at Laurentian University, began work on a commemorative project to honour Shannen and her legacy.

“Shannen is my hero,” Koostachin said in a news release. “Her advocacy for equitable access to education promoted a change in how we look at the human rights of all children in Canada. This monument is a tribute to her life.”

But the project is currently on hold do to a lack of funds.

“Ontario Arts Council funding will cover part of the project,” said Koostachin. “But we still need to raise $25,000 to finish the monument, which we plan to unveil by October.”

The team recently launched an Indiegogo fundraising campaign.

Sudbury-based sculptor Tyler Fauvelle has been commissioned to create the figurative bronze sculpture, which will depict Shannen dancing in traditional regalia, and incorporate elements reflecting her Cree culture.

Shannen's cause is kept alive by her family and friends with Shannen’s Dream, A campaign for decent schools for all First Nations children across Canada, and for quality, culturally-based education.