by Janet Smellie
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 04/97) - By the time he was 18, John Kim Bell was the first aboriginal symphony conductor ever to work with a Broadway musical.

By 1980 he was a apprentice conductor with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, going on to produce and share composer credits for the nationally acclaimed aboriginal ballet, In the Land of Spirits.

These achievements not only earned Bell worldwide recognition as a musician, but won him a position of respect among aboriginal people throughout the world.

And despite the heights he could have reached if he'd continued in his career, Bell is now dedicating his time to helping ensure that aboriginal people get the help they need to success.

The founder and chair of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation travelled to the North last week to launch this year's search for achievers the foundation can assist.

A non-profit charity, the foundation is the largest group in the country that offers assistance to aboriginal students for training and education.

The foundation formerly known as the Canadian Native Arts Foundation offers assistance to providing education and training in the arts the new foundation is now offering support for business and the sciences.

Bell is also in charge of the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, a system recognizing the career achievements of First Nations, Metis and Inuit ancestry. Each year 14 people are honored for their achievements at a special televised gala on CBC.

With the foundation now 13 years old and the federal government continuously cutting its grant money to aboriginal groups, the foundation's mandate is becoming more important every year.

"Indian Affairs is cutting back on post-secondary funding more and more. And with so many aboriginal people unemployed there's nothing in its place. We hope the foundation can pick up where the cuts left off."

A recipient of the Order of Canada in 1990, Bell was born on the Kahnawake Mohawk Reserve near Montreal in 1952. He is a firm believer that politics among his people have to be put on the back-burner and education made a priority.

"You just have to look at the social conditions and the unemployment to realize that the real urgency is in education. Canada is changing dramatically when it comes to international trade. Unless, we as aboriginal people can get into that world of trade we'll continue to be left out of the picture," Bell says.

"The ultimate goal for me is to have something durable, through a trust fund that can not only help people in the short-term, but can be there in 20 years."

Past recipients of the achievement awards in the North have included former NWT government leader Nellie Cournoyea, cabinet minister Stephen Kakfwi, Inuvialuit businessman Frank Hansen and artist Kiawak Ashoona.

During his visit to the North, Bell met with members of the Native Women's Association, Nunasi Corporation, BHP Diamonds, the Metis Development Corporation and the territorial government to launch this year's programs.

Applications for grants and nomination forms for the achievement awards are available at municipal offices upon request.