The late Shannen Koostachin of Attawapiskat is DC Comics character

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the late Shannen Koostachin of Attawapiskat is DC Comics latest character. Koostachin died in a car accident in 2010, but before her death she became known internationally for her activism in the area of education, inspiring a campaign known as Shannen’s Dream. DC Comics writer Jeff Lemire was inspired by Koostachin’s story to include her as a character in a Justice League comic book. “At 13, she organized a campaign to get the temporary school in her community replaced with a permanent and safe school that offered high-quality and culturally relevant education for First Nations students,” reads the report. “While Native American and First Nation characters are not absent from comic book history, the need for new heroes and an increasingly diverse representation of cultures in our popular media remains paramount. And with this new Cree teenager superhero, not only is a there a new character to admire, but a real life hero for youth and adults to follow.”