Harvard Club of Quebec Establishes Annual Prize for First Nations Students

The Harvard Club of Quebec will award a prize in December to one student at the Kiuna Institution — a pre-university program for First Nations students in Quebec — to support Indigenous access to higher education.

While the Harvard Club of Quebec first presented the award in May 2023, its leaders plan to make it an annual event.

“This prize is just not about academic achievement,” said Sami Boutaleb, president of the Harvard Club of Quebec. “It reflects our deep commitment to education, inclusion and Indigenous representation in Canada.”

The inaugural prize included a $1,000 check and a book of essays by Abenaki documentarian Alanis Obomsawin.

Dr. Hilliard T. Goldfarb, director of arts and culture for the club, conceived the prize to honor leadership and academic achievement among Indigenous students, particularly those facing socioeconomic barriers.

“Many of these people come from very poor and very difficult, challenging backgrounds,” Goldfarb said.

First Nations youth between the ages of 19 and 30 were about half as likely to have completed or attended a postsecondary program compared to non-First Nations youth, according to Canada’s 2016 census. Less than two-thirds of First Nations youth had completed high school.

Kiuna Institution Director Prudence Hannis said she hopes the prize will “demystify” Harvard and offer recipients ongoing mentorship from the Harvard Club of Quebec.

Aaliyah Decker ’26, secretary of Natives at Harvard and a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said she believes programs like this prize could strengthen ties between Harvard and prospective Indigenous students.

“If there was a little bit more contact between the College and myself or other Native students, I think it would be a lot more successful in attracting them,” Decker said.

In Harvard College’s Class of 2028, only one percent of U.S. students who reported their race or ethnicity identified as Native American. Harvard does not report race data for international students.

Beyond recognizing individual achievement, Boutaleb said he hopes the award will highlight “the importance of Indigenous education and the role that institutions like Kiuna play in fostering leadership and success amongst First Nations and Inuit students.”

Kiuna — managed by the First Nations Education Council, an association of eight nations in Quebec — is the only First Nations college in Quebec, according to Hannis.

Goldfarb, who first proposed the award, said his goal was to acknowledge the Kiuna Institution’s work to provide culturally adapted education to First Nations students.

“I wanted to create this prize that would reinforce the sense of positive leadership with pride and cultural patrimony,” he said.

Correction: October 15, 2024

A previous version of this art icle incorrectly stated Decker’s tribal affiliation. In fact, it is the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

—Staff writer Meghna Mitra can be reached at meghna.mitra@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Rachel Fields can be reached at rachel.fields@thecrimson.com.