New DC Comics superhero inspired by young Cree activist

Posted By Toyacoyah Brown January 7th, 2014 Last Updated on: January 7th, 2014

DC Comics author Jeff Lemire is working on a new superhero team, Justice League Canada, and as he develops a female First Nations character he's looking to the late activist Shannen Koostachin for inspiration. Koostachin, from the Attawapiskat First Nation, led a campaign for safe schools and Aboriginal education and was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize. She died in a car accident at the age of 15 in 2010.

“I think if I can capture some of that heart and some of that essence in this character, perhaps she'll almost be a guiding spirit in the creation of this character,” Lemire told CBC. Lemire says that he has not decided on the new character's superpowers, and will be taking submissions from students. “There would be the cultural strengths,” he said. “The family ties, the knowledge of the land, the rich, rich symbolism of the Cree on James Bay.”

Visit Indian Country Today Media Network for the full article. You can read more about Shannen's Dream on the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada website.