Anne-Marie Jennings
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jul 27/98) - When conductor John Kim Bell began asking people for money 15 years ago for the early day funding of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, the situation on most First Nations reserves was less than ideal.

"Fifteen years ago, conditions on most reserves were deplorable. I knew that the reserve I lived on wasn't Hollywood, but it wasn't that bad."

The internationally- renowned conductor was in Yellowknife last week meeting with the private sector looking for financial support for the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, which Bell started in 1982.

He was also travelling across Canada on the heels of the recent announcement that he had been awarded the 1998 Royal Bank Award. The award recognizes those who have made a significant contribution to human welfare and the common good.

Bell grew up on the Kahnawake Native Reserve near Cornwall, Ontario. He studied violin and piano as a teenager. By the age of 18, he was already conducting orchestras for major Broadway musicals. When he was appointed apprentice-conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra back in 1980, he became the first aboriginal person to hold such a position.

Bell had been fortunate enough to find a path towards success through the arts with his love for music. When he reached a point where he was being invited to speak to young people living on reserves across Canada, he realized he could do something to help those who needed help. That is why he established the foundation.

"This year, we will be awarding $791,000 in scholarships," he says. "Next year, we plan to award $1.7 million."

The foundation is designed to provide financial assistance to aboriginal students in a number of academic areas. When he first set up the foundation, Bell had no idea of what the project would entail.

"I wasn't aware of what I was getting myself into. when I started things, I started out to help out young artists. I figured that art was a great way to keep kids involved," Bell says.

Bell used his own personal experience in dealing with top executives at some of Canada's larger companies to help collect the funds he knew he would need to get the foundation off the ground.

"Nobody was really interested in supporting us. So I borrowed $100,000 from the bank with no collateral except a grand piano. I then booked Bernadette Peters for one night and invited the heads of a number of different corporations to attend.

"I learned that we would have to include broad-based society into the project if we wanted to get the funds necessary. We wanted to establish public visibility."

Since then, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation has expanded the focus of its scholarship program to include business, health, medicine, and a number of other fields.

Bell says the federal government has also supported the foundation over its 15-year history. However, the foundation does not rely on the funds from the federal government as being a constant source of revenue.

"Forty-seven percent of our funding comes from the private sector," Bell says. He adds that it is the fact the foundation is not wholly funded by the federal government which makes supporting the foundation more appealing.

Bell also recognizes the importance of the scholarships offered, since those who are supported and go on to greater success will then serve as role models for younger aboriginal people.

"By awarding scholarships to deserving young people, we are working to break the stereotypes which are in place."

He adds that those who are awarded money for their studies are then invited to speak to young aboriginal people as well as sit on the selection committees for future years.

In 15 years, Bell says that things have slowly improved.

"There has been some healing. We are more unified -- it's not perfect, but it's better. The young people of today are better educated.

"What has to be recognized is that while maintaining tradition is important, we have to look to the future."