Shirley Scott Has Passed Away
Written by Paul Graif on 27 November 2020
Kahnawà:ke has lost someone special who was known as an influential elder in the community. Shirley Scott has passed away. With some reflections, Chairperson of the K1037 Board of Directors, Joe Delaronde who says Scott was very much low-key:
“She was one of the founding members of the combined schools committee and that is one of the biggest stories of the past 50 years in Kahnawà:ke was the education system and the changeover. So she was there and she stayed on for a longtime. Of course, she was known as the librarian at the cultural center for many years and the cultural center and K1037 in the earliest years were one and the same for many years and Shirley was one of the, basically, founding staff at K1037 back in the day because she used to be one of the co-hosts on the Partyline Talk-show so we’re very familiar with her, she had a lot of influence there.”
Shirley Scott was a remarkable woman was involved in several facets of the community:
“In 1990, I think she surprised a lot of people by being one of the people who stayed at the treatment center and was surrounded by the army and she stayed there during the entire ordeal and I think a lot of people didn’t expect that and she gained a lot of respect from people in Kahnawà:ke for that. She’s certainly going to be missed.”
Scott spent many years helping to develop our own education system as a long-time member of the KCSC and co-hosted the Partyline Talkshow during the early years of K1037. Shirley Scott a performer with the Turtle Island Theatre Company for several years will be remembered for her strength and resolve. She will be buried at the St. Kateri Cemetery.
