Shannen's Dream Timeline & Documents

Spirit Bear: Fishing for Knowledge, Catching Dreams, featuring the story of Shannen Koostachin and her dream for safe and comfy schools was released. 

Caring Society submits report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, "Canada’s Ongoing Racial Discrimination Against 165,000 First Nations Children and Their Families", for Canada's Fifth and Sixth Periodic Report.

2018 Spring Reports of the Auditor General of Canada to the Parliament of Canada - Report 5—Socio-economic Gaps on First Nations Reserves—Indigenous Services Canada.

Ontario First Nations Special Education Review Report released May 2017.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer releases a new report on First Nations education, confirming the ongoing shortfall in Federal funding.

Click here to read the report.

During February and March of 2016, the Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council of the Chiefs of Ontario conducted a survey in support of the Inquest into the deaths of seven youths in Thunder Bay. The goal of the survey was to learn from the personal experiences of First Nations youth, especially youth that have had to go to school off reserve. More than 100 responses were received from across the province.

Kattawapiskak Elementary School opens in Attawapiskat in late August, ending 14 years of children learning in portables.

Shannen’s Dream documentary Hi-Ho Mistahey! premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Hi-Ho Mistahey! tells the story of Shannen Koostachin and the Shannen’s Dream campaign. The film was written and directed by Alanis Obomsawin, a member of the Abenaki First Nation and one of Canada’s most acclaimed documentary filmmakers.

“Hi-Ho Mistahey” was a favorite phrase of Shannen’s. It means “I love you forever” in Cree. Visit the National Film Board of Canada website to learn more.

Shannen’s Dream documentary Hi-Ho Mistahey! premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Hi-Ho Mistahey! tells the story of Shannen Koostachin and the Shannen’s Dream campaign. The film was written and directed by Alanis Obomsawin, a member of the Abenaki First Nation and one of Canada’s most acclaimed documentary filmmakers.

“Hi-Ho Mistahey” was a favorite phrase of Shannen’s. It means “I love you forever” in Cree. Visit the National Film Board of Canada website to learn more.

Minister John Duncan promises the new school will be open in Attawapiskat for the 2013/2014 school year. 

UN review of Canada’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Questions the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child will be asking the Government of Canada.

Our Dreams Matter Too, walk for culturally based equity for First Nations children.

Eight recommendations were developed in conjunction with an action plan. The recommendations include, but are not limited to: develop a strategic and transparent framework to allocate funds to enhance student success; conduct research on funding allocation methodologies, equitable to provincial approaches and accounting for cost-realities on reserve; ensure that future policy clearly defines roles and responsibilities within the ESE program; work with First Nations to improve culture and language retention; work with First Nations to improve accessibility for students with special needs; and explore the possibility of the incorporation of early childhood education and adult programming into AANDC ESE programming. 

Budget 2012 is released, announcing $275 million over three years – an insufficient amount to address school needs or education funding shortfalls. Read Chapter 3.3 of the budget, “Investments to Improve First Nations Funding”.

Minister John Duncan and Attawapiskat First Nation announce awarding of construction contract for the new 5808-square-meter school for 540 students from kindergarten to grade 8. No announcement on how Canada plans to address other school needs outlined in the Parliamentary Budget Officer report in 2009. Read the Parliamentary Budget Officer report on First Nations education, May 25, 2009.

Private Member’s motion supporting Shannen’s Dream is unanimously supported by the House of Commons.

Have a Heart Day: a campaign to give First Nations children the same chance to grow up safely at home, get a good education, be healthy, and proud of their cultures. Hundreds of students and supporters joined together on Parliament Hill for the 1st year.

Final Report released by the National Panel on First Nation Elementary and Secondary Education. Read the report.

Six First Nations Youth Ambassadors travel to Geneva to present to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. 

Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples releases report, Reforming First Nations Education: From Crisis to Hope, calling on the federal government to provide equitable funding for First Nations schools.

Report on Priority Actions in View of Improving First Nations Education released by FNEC, NAN and FSIN as a parallel report to the National Panel on First Nations Education.

First Nations Child and Family Caring Society & KAIROS release, Honouring the Children, a shadow report to the Canada 3rd and 4th Periodic Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Canadian children release report, Our Dreams Matter Too, to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The report demands an inquiry for First Nations children’s educational inequity in Canada. 

The Auditor General of Canada releases a status report noting that the federal government’s efforts to close the gap in education between First Nations and the general population have been “unsatisfactory”. Read Auditor General's the report.

Shannen’s Dream Day of Action. Hundreds of students gather at Parliament Hill in support of equal educational rights for First Nations children.

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society releases Jordan & Shannen: First Nations Children demand that the Canadian Government stop racially discriminating against them, a shadow report to the Canada 3rd and 4th Periodic Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Minister Chuck Strahl promises a new school for Attawapiskat First Nation in the House of Commons.

Shannen’s Dream is launched by children from Attawapiskat First Nation. The Canadian Coalition for Human Rights makes a special presentation of an award recognizing Shannen’s work advancing the education rights of children. Watch a video on Shannen’s Dream.

At the age of 15, Shannen dies tragically in a car accident while attending school away from home.