1998 Flame of Hope Gala Raises Support for Indian College Scholarships

American Indian College Fund
Sunday, 1 November 1998

(November, 1998) – The invitation said "black tie," but the vibrant colors of traditional tribal attire added flavor to a unique fundraising event for Indian education.

On November 10th, the third annual Flame of Hope Gala raised support for some 300 scholarships for the American Indian College Fund. The benefit at the Pierre Hotel in New York City featured dinner, auction and awards to supporters of 30 U.S. tribal colleges, while raising a total of more than $300,000 for the nonprofit Fund.

That included a special gift of $100,000 contributed to the College Fund by Winona Ryder, a member of the Fund's board of trustees and a co-chair of the gala.

Flame of Hope Awards were presented to three loyal friends of tribal colleges. This year's honorees included U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell—the only Indian serving in Congress and a trustee emeritus of the College Fund; Richard Black, chairman of Oak Technology and treasurer of the College Fund; and Buffy Sainte-Marie, an internationally-known songwriter and Indian educator.

"Hopefully, there's a day coming when kids will be able to go from K-through-12 right into the tribal colleges," said Sainte-Marie, "and right out the doors of tribal colleges and bring the reality of Native American people into the classrooms of the world. Maybe they'll come a day in the future when [Native people] will no longer be misperceived and suffer because of that."

After being called to the stage, Richard Black said he was humbled to be a co-honoree with a person of Sainte-Marie's stature.

"I'm greatly moved that this organization would honor me in this way," Black said. "It's special to me because I deeply share the Fund's intense commitment to Native American education. For me, education is the first requirement for strong Indian people."

The evening also included entertainment by the Dakota Sioux blues band Indigenous and an auction of a limited-edition series of Edward Curtis portraits of Native Americans. The crowd of 325 people also heard from several tribal college students featured in the College Fund's national television awareness campaign. Located mostly on poor, isolated Indian reservations, these 30 colleges are dedicated to fighting the high rates of poverty and unemployment which afflict Indian people.

For more information, or to contact American Indian College Fund, see their website at: www.collegefund.org