# @harvard on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl3KNx-H2nf
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/21653921-harvard-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/9b916de28f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-07-30T16:05:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Harvard University (@harvard) — https://gondola.cc/harvard

## Caption

Growing up a Dene in north central Canada, one of the 600 aboriginal groups of Canada’s First Nations, Gabrielle Scrimshaw knows firsthand the challenges that mark the lives of Indigenous peoples. ⠀
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When she was accepted to the University of Saskatchewan, she became the first in her family to go to college. She graduated with a bachelor’s in marketing and traveled to 18 countries in 4 years, meeting indigenous peoples around the world and discovering their common history of colonization, discrimination, and forced assimilation. ⠀
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“As Indigenous peoples, we’ve faced similar circumstances of being colonized and having governments trying to forcefully remove us and erase our cultures, languages and existence, all of which has led Indigenous peoples to being at the bottom of every social and economic indicator,” said Scrimshaw. “And despite all of that, and the efforts of governments to exterminate Indigenous peoples, we’re still here. That’s where my inspiration and my sustaining force now come from.”⠀
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A Gleitsman Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, this May Scrimshaw completed a Master in Public Administration. Scrimshaw plans to start an investment firm to invest in tribal businesses and Indigenous entrepreneurs, which could function as a bridge between Indigenous communities and corporate Canada.⠀
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“In the Indigenous communities, our Elders always remind us to think about how our decisions are going to affect the seventh generation,” said Scrimshaw. “This is not a short-term project. It’s a generational thing. When I think about the work I do, I have to think about my kids, my grandkids, and my great-grandkids.”⠀
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This is part of a series showcasing some of Harvard’s stellar graduates from #Harvard18 Commencement.⠀
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Photo: Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer

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