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In The Hoop
THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2002

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

Up Sand Creek
A very special honor was bestowed yesterday upon Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and National Indian Gaming Commission chairman Montie Deer but you probably won't be reading about it in the media anytime soon.

Not because the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal leaders and elders who arranged the meet wanted it that way, though. They made the long journey from Oklahoma to Washington, D.C., to give thanks to the three for helping make a land transfer at the Sand Creek massacre site in Colorado a reality.

Except that a Nickles aide didn't allow reporters the tribes brought along to witness the event, one source said. (The aide didn't order a complete audit of the tribes' finances but we could be mistaken. Fort Apache, anyone?)

Still, the ceremony went over very well, according to one attendee. Campbell, a Cheyenne descendant and vice-chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, was especially moved by his honor, the attendee told In The Hoop.

High-Level Indian Politicking (HLIP)
There's a twist to the Sand Creek story that might put a wrench in the affair. We'd love to tell you about that right now but have some other tribal business to report.

Everyone knows that Charles Tillman, chairman of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma, is running for re-election. But did you know that he's being endorsed but such luminaries as Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb and Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah)?

Well not exactly. But that's not the message Osage tribal members received in the mail the other day. "I have achieved recognition as something of a national Indian leader," Tillman wrote in his May 6 pitch.

To prove it, he attached letters from the aforementioned. "Please accept this letter as my sincere gratitude for your friendship, advice and leadership that you have graciously extended me," wrote McCaleb on official Bureau of Indian Affairs letterhead last month.

"You have been an encouragement to me and an outstanding example of Indian Leadership at the Tribal and National levels," he continued.

Regarding Tillman's February appearance before the House Resources Committee, chairman Hansen chimed in: "Your testimony was extremely helpful in defining the Committee's understanding of the issue."

In Your Hoop
Do you think President Bush will endorse Chairman Tillman? Email In the Hoop and let us know.

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