FROM THE ARCHIVE

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In The Hoop
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2002

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

What Me, Worry?
The Internet woes at the Department of Interior aren't just affecting Indian landowners, they've also hit Native American Systems (NAS), one of the largest ($34 million in annual sales, according to corporate figures) Native-owned computer technology firms in the country.

"NAS IS DONE," began the harshly worded Dec. 21 letter from chairman and president Robert P. Rutherford, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, to Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb.

"Native American Systems, Inc. can no longer continue under these circumstances and, in fact, may be forced into bankruptcy due to the actions and inactions of BIA employees," Rutherford continued.

You see, the Colorado-based NAS has been supplying the BIA with hardware for the agency's Internet infrastructure. You know, the one that's been shut down since December 5 because such silly little things as firewalls and network intrusion devices were never installed by such former officials as Dom Nessi.

But while NAS has provided e-mail, Internet and other network services to the BIA, the agency has failed to make timely payments for the services, Rutherford told McCaleb. "This great opportunity to connect your agency offices and schools has been a nightmare and, despite our bets efforts, we have become the 'whipping boy' for your employees who are unwilling or unable to manage this network," he said.

Then Rutherford threatened to pull a (Deputy Secretary) Griles and shut down all the network hardware his company installed on December 31, 2001.

So did it happen?

The BIA, like the rest of the Interior, still doesn't have Internet access, so who can really tell if anything is working over there.

Interior gets new official
The Internet shutdown hasn't stopped Secretary Gale Norton from filling her department with friends. She did that last week, appointing Paul Hoffman, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Like Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason, whose brilliance in leadership has been displayed by the continued delay of millions of dollars to American Indians, the appointment doesn't require Senate confirmation. So don't look for Hoffman (or Cason) to be appearing near any Congressional committee any time soon.

BIA-KMART!
At least one In The Hoop faithful wasn't swayed by our suggestion to hand over tribal and individual Indian trust assets to Uncle Sam Walton. Rick from Oklahoma wrote: "i would prefer k-mart, for some reason you can always find the scanners in wal-mart aren't correct (every penny counts), always off a nickle or so. but you can trust on k-mart to always be correct and up to date on their prices. as for target, well i couldn't afford to shop there, and its to far away."

There you go. Every penny counts. We only wish the government felt the same way about the $2.3 billion in unaccounted tribal funds. But who's counting?

In Your Hoop
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