The Week in Review
ending January 4, 11
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Tribal leaders, lawyers and others.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
January 3, 2002.
Photo © NSM. |
Missed the week's stories? Get a complete listing
here and
here.
Want In The Hoop's list of the week's Winners and Losers? Wait no more.
Norton contempt trial resumes . . .
The new year began with a resumption of Secretary
of Interior Gale Norton's contempt trial for
her and Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb's handling of
the individual Indian trust.
After moving slowly at the onset, the pace picked up
as attorneys representing 300,000 landowners rested
their case.
But hardly anyone was around to notice, as
lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell,
Norton's personal counsel Herbert Fenster,
Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles,
Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb
and most mainstream press had long deserted the
proceedings.
So not many witnessed seeing, in person, Norton launch
her defense against the charges.
And a simple defense it was:
"We'll fix the system whenever we like,
and we don't have to tell anyone about it."
Get the Story:
Contempt trial
resumes in federal court (1/4)
Trial resumes
with trust testimony (1/7)
Top trust
official lacks 'confidence' in reform (1/9)
Babbitt, others
dropped as witnesses (1/9)
Cobell
plaintiffs rest case (1/10)
End in sight for
Norton contempt trial (1/10)
Norton
launches contempt defense (1/11)
. . . As Interior shutdown continues . . .
Speaking of not fixing things, a court-ordered
Internet shutdown at the Department of Interior
entered its second month with no resolution to the
holdup of
millions of dollars in royalty checks to
Indians in sight.
And why not? The plaintiffs blamed the Interior
for moving too slowly,
the Interior blamed the court
for not approving its security
plans,
Bureau of Indian Affairs-apologists blamed the plaintiffs,
the judge and whomever they could reach -- all the while
special master Alan Balaran kept his mouth shut, mostly.
Thousands of beneficiaries, however, remain the
ones without their funds as the crisis threatens
to register a response on the richter scale that
should make Norton take notice.
Get the Story:
Little hope for
trust fund payments (1/4)
Debate
continues over trust fund shutdown (1/7)
Speedy trust fund
payments sought (1/7)
Interior says
working on shutdown (1/7)
Order on trust
fund payments sought (1/8)
Interior
waited weeks on trust fund shutdown (1/9)
McCaleb
tries to explain computer shutdown (1/11)
Sioux tribe
honored for payments (1/11)
Editorial: Fix
the trust problem already (1/11)
more stories
There's still more to read in the recap
of the top stories.
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