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In The Hoop
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2002

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

Congratulations Neal!
Remember when Indianz.Com wrote about Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb's failure to offer new land-into-trust regulations despite the Bush administration having put them on hold more than a year ago?

Well this distinction has earned him a special honor from the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. According to a letter sent to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), McCaleb's inaction is unique.

"As of January 20, 2002, most of the 90 delayed rules had not been changed since their publication as a final rule," reads the correspondence. "However, one of the rules had been withdrawn by the issuing agency and had not been replaced."

"On November 9, 2001, the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior published a “withdrawal of final rule” action in the Federal Register that withdrew the agency’s January 16, 2001, rule on “procedures used by Indian tribes and individuals to acquire title to land in trust,”" the letter continues. "The agency said it withdrew the rule to address “specific areas of concern in a new rule,” and said the withdrawal was effective immediately."

The GAO goes on to note that other federal agencies have also withdrawn rules. But unlike the no-movement McCaleb, replacements were offered in all the other cases.

Thanks for the Shoutout!
Remember Jim Pace? The Bureau of Indian Affairs official whom Narragansett tribal official John Brown said was full of lies?

In The Hoop can't disprove that, but at least he reads Indianz.Com. During yesterday's panel on sacred sites, he told the audience to visit the web site to find more information about the Hoopa Valley Tribe's legal win.

"They have the article and they have the reference link to the court decision so I would refer you to that," he said

Well, we we can't prove whether read the article (other than the fact he nearly read from it verbatim), since the BIA is still disconnected from the Internet. But we feel your pain!

Get to Work!
It's an long-running joke in Indian Country but it still brings in the laughs. And yesterday, noted scholar and historian Vine Deloria Jr. got some chuckles when he brought it up during his keynote at the sacred lands forum.

"I don't expect the BIA guys to do work," he recalled. "When [Lt. Col. George Armstrong] Custer left for Little Bighorn, he said, “Don't do anything until I get back.” They've been following orders ever since."

"If there are more terrorist things, you run to the BIA," he continued. "Nobody's going to move that. You'll be safe there."

In Your Hoop
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