FROM THE ARCHIVE

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In The Hoop
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2002

Welcome to In The Hoop, Indianz.Com's occasional column about assorted Indian issues.

RETIRING: Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb comes home to Oklahoma to dedicate new BIA facility.

Neal's Homecoming
They say you can never go home again, but for outgoing Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb, he's never really left. Always the family man, he plans on spending much more time with his wife and grandchildren in Oklahoma now that he's leaving the Bush administration at the end of the year.

But don't count on McCaleb to disappear, he said yesterday at the dedication of a brand new Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Muskogee. "Oklahoma will always be my home," he said. "Indian service is not just an office."

Speaking of the office, it's absolutely huge. Sitting on two floors, the Muskogee Creek Nation built and paid for the new BIA Eastern Oklahoma regional headquarters.

The BIA is the sole tenant, of course, and McCaleb was warmly received and praised as he toured the facility. "I work for you," was a frequent refrain from the employees as they enjoyed cake and heavily-sugared punch.

Jeannette Hanna, the regional director, said the BIA was still unpacking. But the building was very homeland security friendly.

McCaleb, by the way, was prominently displaying his "Chickasaw in Space" pin. He said he was proud of fellow Chickasaw Nation tribal member John Herrington, the first American Indian to go into space. That Oklahoman comes home next week.

Neal's Deposition
In his resignation letter, McCaleb cited the ongoing Indian trust fund litigation as a reason for his imminent departure. But yesterday, he didn't seem all too worried about the debacle amid an ongoing probe into the destruction of his own e-mails.

"That part of the case has been settled," he told Indianz.Com before he was whisked away to attend to his chief of staff.

You Probably Already Knew But. . .
Say it isn't so! The Department of Interior won't come out and play with tribal leaders, according to an attorney who works for an inter-tribal organization. The attorney, like DOI, has taken to blame Indians for the failure of the federal government to fix the broken trust.

"Interior has felt somewhat burned over this issue, and its willingness to work openly with Indian country in drafting potential legislation has cooled noticeably," the attorney wrote in an private e-mail that somehow landed in the hands of Indianz.Com. "This is a bridge we are going to have to rebuild."

Forgive is for asking, but when has Interior ever worked openly with Indian Country? Can anyone say BITAM? Ross Swimmer?

Some people never learn.

In Your Hoop
Should Indian Country give a rat's ass about the Interior? Or about attorneys who give bad advice to tribes? Email In the Hoop and let us know.