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In The Hoop
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2002

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

A Good Gamble
If the name of the federal magistrate who gave a reprieve to three Oklahoma tribes on a gaming dispute that heats up day by day sounds familiar, it should. Well, at least to the Osage Nation readers in Indian Country.

U.S. Magistrate Sam A. Joyner of the Northern District of Oklahoma once slammed Koch Oil for destroying database records of oil it took from Osage landowners. The company was on the hook for stealing royalties from tribal members.

"The court found that due to the negligence of [Koch] senior management, certain computer tapes were destroyed by [Koch] data processing personnel at a time when [Koch] had a duty to preserve them," Joyner summarized in July 1999.

If that sounds a lot like the Department of Interior destroying computer tapes related to the Indian trust, it sure does. Except that Koch was eventually ordered to pay for its foul-ups and well, you know the story about those people in Washington, D.C.

Montie Deer, Communist?
Speaking of those Oklahoma tribes, the outgoing chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, is coming under fire by users of Yahoo's finance message board who are upset that his enforcement actions have caused their stock to tumble.

"He is the bad guy," wrote one disgruntled observer.

But investors aren't the only ones grumbling. Word spread quickly among Indian gaming circles this week that a hired gun has been enlisted to help usher Deer, who was an appointee of President Bill Clinton, out the door.

Deer's term was up this past spring but he plans to stay until August. But In The Hoop says don't be surprised if he somehow sticks around longer...

Indian Lawyer Jokes
How many Indian lawyers does it take to win an award from a national publication?

Six. Three to be actual tribal members and the rest to claim their grandmother was a Cherokee Indian princess.

All joking aside, congratulations go out to Holland & Knight, which scored high on the annual Minority Law Journal survey of large law firms. For the second year in a row, the D.C.-based firm had the second highest number (6) of Native partners, up from last year's count (4).

Dorsey & Whitney continued to be the top pick, however, with twice the number (12) of Indian partners than HK. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based firm was up from 9 on last year's survey.

In Your Hoop
What's your best Indian lawyer joke? Email In the Hoop and let us know.