Shannen and the Dream for a School

“All students in Canada deserve a learning environment that they are proud to attend, and that gives them hope.
We want the same hope as every other Canadian student."

                                 Shannen Koostachin, 13,
                               Attawapiskat First Nation

This is the true story of thirteen-year-old Shannen Koostachin
and the people of Attawapiskat First Nation,
a Cree community in Northern Ontario,
who have been fighting for a new school since 1979,
when a fuel oil spill contaminated their
original school building.

In 2008, Shannen and her grade eight classmates launched a protest against the Ministry of Indian Affairs to have their temporary, run-down portables that don’t keep out the freezing cold winter air, replaced by a real school. Their Students-Helping-Students campaign inspired people across the country to help and became the largest child rights movement in Canadian history.

Shannen makes a YouTube video describing the poor conditions, and their plea for a decent school gains them attention and support from community leaders and children across the country. Inspired, the students sacrificed their grad trip to Niagara Falls, to go to Ottawa to speak to the Canadian government. Once there, Shannen speaks passionately to the politicians about the need to give Native children the opportunity to succeed.

“When I shook his hand, I told him that we’re not going to quit.”
Shannen Koostachin, Globe and Mail Quote of the Day, May 30, 2008

The following summer, Shannen is nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. Her passion and that of the other students makes politicians stand up and take notice, and becomes a rallying point for the community and for the country.

Shannen will never see her dream fulfilled.
Tragically, she was killed in a car crash in 2010.
Her family, friends, and supporters are continuing
to fight and to honor her memory as they work for
equality for children in communities everywhere.
Find out more about the Shannen’s Dream campaign
and help end the underfunding of First Nations schools
go to http://www.fncfcs.com/shannensdream/

Publisher’s information:

A Kids' Power Series book
Second Story Press
978-1-926920-30-6
$14.95 Paperback
176 Pages • 6.5" x 8"
Ages: 9-13

Links to articles and Youtube videos:

Read the Canadian Geographic story on the children of Attawapiskat and their wait for a new school, "Still Waiting in Attawapiskat"

Our Dreams Matter Too; First Nations children's rights, lives and education First Nations children and youth report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child

This is Charlie Angus’s video that started the campaign http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzLMuW1N50I

Shannen’s video 8 Long Struggling Years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJNpMHyZPus

Press Conference, May, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPAfgsKefDg

Attawapiskat-Youth1- Shannen's Dream- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykSWHs7c7-I

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy13SYkBYEQ

Charlie Angus wrote and recorded a song about Shannen Koostachin called Diamonds in the Snow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IThwsiXhKa8

The Canadian Geographic video, "Still Waiting in Attawapiskat" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoNXxVHN3uE

Heartspeak video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gy38grr35c&feature=related