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In The Hoop
JUNE 15, 2001

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

In The Hoop: The Scorecard
So who were this week's movers and shakers? Its time once again for In The Hoop's take on the winners and losers in news, politics, and beyond.

The Winners
Oklahoma Secretary of Transportation Neal McCaleb - For having the smoothest confirmation process of any Department of Interior nominee so far. Will the next four years be so easy? Only time will tell.

The Branch of Acknowledgment and Research - For getting a thumbs up from your potential new boss. You staff members must be doing something right. Now if only Director Lee Fleming can uncover the identity of the alleged mole.

The family of Hardy Haceesa - For proving to the world what everyone in Indian Country already knew: the Indian Health Service doesn't know what its doing some / a lot / most of the time. But will this open the floodgates to more lawsuits?

Interior spokesperson Mark Pfeifle - For being the only employee lucky enough to travel with Secretary Gale Norton on her "fact finding" trip to Alaska. Don't forget your socks! And your appetite.

StarLink - For restoring respect and honor to the tarnished image of the biotechnology food industry. Just don't try to engineer a better fry bread.

Puerto Rico - For complaining long and loud enough to get the bombings of one of your island to stop. But can you do the same of Ricky Martin? The world would greatly appreciate it.

Indian Country's Rosa Parks - For being stubborn enough to sit down for the rights of all Indians. One small step for decorum, one giant leap for mankind.

The Losers
The Fort Peck Tribes - For being too greedy and wanting to tax non-Indian property on your reservation. What an outrage, or so a federal judge says.

The Boston Globe - For running a front-page story about an alleged call for an investigation into the financial dealings of the Mohegan Tribe only to have your lead source refute it.

Mixed-race Indian families - For being so dysfunctional, or so Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) said this week at the confirmation hearing for Neal McCaleb.

An unidentified group of "Indians" - For having your attempt to gain federal recognition lampooned this week by Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) Who knew Campbell was such an armchair anthropologist?

Alaska Native Corporations - For being so powerful and influential that even the Democrats are complaining about you.

In the Middle
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) - For telling the same two stories about Indian Country. In The Hoop appreciates the support for tribal nations, but can someone give the man some new material?

The Cerro Grande Fire - For causing so much damage to Pueblo, private, and federal property yet having no one to blame for your devastation. Its like you never happened.

The American public / media - For turning convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's death into a circus. Have we moved on now? In The Hoop hopes so.

In Your Hoop
Who were your winners and losers? Email us and let us know. You might be published here! Email In the Hoop.

In Your Hoop
Got an interesting tip? You might be published here. Email In the Hoop.

Previous In The Hoops
June 14 | June 8 | June 6 | June 5 | June 1 | May 30 | May 24 | May 23 | May 16 | May 11 | May 8 | May 7 | May 2 | May 1 | April 30 | April 25 | April 24 | April 23 | April 20 | April 19