FROM THE ARCHIVE

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In The Hoop
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2002

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

In The Hoop: The Scorecard
Is it Friday already? That means it's time for the weekly list of the movers and shakers in Indian Country and beyond.

The Winners
Tribal Courts - For once, a victory! But will it be short lived? Only an enterprising attorney working on behalf an Indian can tell and wreck everything for the rest of us.

Drug Enforcement Agency - Despite your highly questionable test of plants taken from a South Dakota hemp farm, you were able to get a restraining order against an Oglala Lakota family. Thanks inadequate lawyers!

Arthur Andersen - Your clients dropped you, the feds won't do business with you but the Department of Justice considers your trust fund work solid gold. This is just the image makeover you need.

White People - You're swarming like moths to a flame at the Santa Fe Indian Market this weekend. Starving Native artists say thank you!

The Losers
A certain "ex" tribal leader - We know your ploys to the press were merely an attempt to make you look good. But we didn't fall for your latest trick.

Secretary of Interior Gale Norton - Congratulations on your doobie! It was an award long overdue, just like that historical accounting you promised.

Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles - Are you really the next West Nile Virus, as environmentalists claim? We don't know for sure but it makes for hilarious reading.

Multimedia Games - "We do not operate under a written agreement with the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma." 'Nuff said.

In The Middle
Seminole Nation - An $8 million fine from the National Indian Gaming Commission? Join the club! But don't worry -- you'll never have to pay it.

Sacagawea / Sakakawea - We don't have a preference for the spelling of your name. We just wish people would spend your dollar coins.

Indian Trust - K.Go is right! The trust fund negotiations are merely busy work before the Supreme Court makes its ruling. Then we'll see the Department of Interior do its own "sovereignty run" -- away from Indian Country.

In Your Hoop
Who are your winners and losers? Email In the Hoop and let us know.