In loving memory of Shannon Koostachin

I am sad to announce the passing of an extraordinary youth activist and youth leader who came out of our territory in 2008 after having made a stand at 13 that she was looking for a better school and better educational standards for her community. Shannen Koostachin, 15, of Attawapiskat FN was tragically killed late on Monday, May 31 after a minivan she was travelling in as a passenger collided head on with a transport truck on Highway 11 in northeastern Ontario near New Liskeard where she was going to school. Shannen’s bid for a new school and better educational standards for her community won her the respect of many organizations provincially and nationally. She was even nominated by a child’s rights organization for the Child’s Nobel Peace Prize for the advocacy work she did. While her fight for a new school was ultimately won, Shannen had yet to see better educational standards that she wanted for First Nations youth implemented at the time of her death. She also never had the privilege of knowing what it’s like to walk down the hallway of an ordinary school in her First Nation. Rather, she attended school in a portable which froze up during the winter and which didn’t have conveniences like a gymnasium, library or labs for sciences or computers.  

In December 2009, INAC finally did agree to build a new school in Attawapiskat. All the hardship that Shannen and the community members put in had finally paid off. Shannen’s dream will one day be realized: they’re still working on details for the construction of the school right now.

Shannen has taught a lesson to us all, and that is to never give up.  Shannen never thought of herself as a leader, but to all of us she was. 

Shannen was inspired by her older sister Serena to take on the government to win her community a school.

Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus, who fought alongside Shannen for the new school, attended her funeral service and even delivered a eulogy for Shannen, which was very moving and touching.  He said, “Shannen had the gift to keep driving forward regardless of the adversity. She believed so strongly in the need to improve the conditions for her younger brothers and sisters that she wasn’t afraid to speak up, to stand up and to fight. This is why we are so in debt to her.“

I admired the love Shannen had not only for her community but also for her parents.  Shannen had posted a note on her mother’s facebook page addressing it not only for her mother but for her father as well.  The words are incredibly written and you can feel what she was really saying, this respectively, would be Shannen’s last facebook note to her parents (at left).

I believe that Shannen was put on this earth for a reason, to fight for Attawapiskat. I am very honoured to have had Shannen Koostachin as my relative, and I couldn’t be any more proud to be an Attawapiskat First Nation member. Shannen was the voice of our community and her legacy will never be forgotten.

Thank you Shannen, for fighting for us. Rest in peace, fly high!
Alison KAYE
Seven Youth Advisory Committee Member

Donate online to the Shannen Koostachin Memorial Fund. The fund will help education projects for James Bay youth.
http://www.fncfcs.com/home.html

To donate follow the “donate now” link on the left side and put “Shannen Koostachin Memorial Fund” in the notes box.

Join the “Rest in Paradise Shannen “Shanshan” Koostachin” group and also the “Become a fan if you think the new school should be named after Shannen” group on Facebook.