THUNDER BAY — Awards established to honour the memory of Jordan Wabasse, a First Nations youth whose body was found in the Kam River in 2011, will be presented to six students attending school in Thunder Bay.
The scholarship program, inaugurated last year, was one of the outcomes of the 2016 inquest into the deaths of seven Indigenous youths in Thunder Bay.
It is a collaboration involving Jordan Wabasse's family and community, Matawa First Nations leadership and Ontario.
The family, Matawa Education and Care Centre, and Webequie First Nation Education Authority announced Tuesday that applications are now open for six awards totalling $1,000 each.
Three will go to students who excel in athletics, and three will be awarded to students excelling in outdoor education.
They will be distributed to graduating Matawa students attending the Matawa Education and Care Centre in the city, a high school in Thunder Bay, and Simon Jacob Memorial Education Centre in Webequie.
"Jordan loved life, excelled in sports and loved the outdoors. This scholarship not only commemorates Jordan's memory but also serves as a reminder to those of us that we not forget Jordan," said Sharon Nate, Matawa's education manager.
The Seven Youth Inquest resulted in 124 recommendations for improvements in education for First Nations youth moving from remote communities to attend school in Thunder Bay.
Twenty-four of the recommendations, including the scholarship program, were directed to the Matawa Learning Centre, now known as the Matawa Education and Care Centre.
