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In The Hoop
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2002

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

Best and Worst...
Every year, Washingtonian magazine asks "key" Capitol Hill staff members to rate their bosses. The results of this year's "Best and Worst of Congress" are in and some of the winners and losers might surprise you.

Ok, well not really. The Senate winner of the "Stay off the Beach" category -- because "some things are obvious," the magazine says -- is Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Ma.) "Will Be Missed The Most" over in the House was taken by (former) Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio), kicked out for his recent felony conviction.

Even Indian Country's own Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) made the list. Thanks to GOP staffers who voted for him in droves, the Northern Cheyenne tribal member took third place in the "Fashion Victim" category.

Must have been the headdress.

Mills to Kick Off Run
If you haven't signed up to take part in the Sovereignty Run from Washington state to Washington, D.C., there's still time before the cross-country trip kicks off September 11.

When you do, you'll be joined by none other than Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, an Oglala Lakota tribal member, and Dorothy DeLaCruz, wife of late Quinault Nation President Joseph B. DeLaCruz. The pair will start the first mile of the 2,800-mile run.

And from there, it's just 12 more states to the final destination.

"Ending this national run at the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. will increase awareness about the Court's decisions which are chipping away our right to govern ourselves," said National Congress of American Indians President Tex Hall in a statement.

The run concludes October 7, the first day of the Court's 2003 term.

Divas 2003?
Indian women in positions of power seems to have gone out the door with the end of the Clinton era. First, it was Ada Deer. Then it was Hilda Manuel. Eventually followed by Sharon Blackwell.

And now Liz Homer and Teresa Poust. Do the Republicans not know any Native women? Or are they afraid of the consequences?

"Note that two women [at the National Indian Gaming Commission] are being replaced by men. I believe women would be more likely to let the tribes have their way because they would consider the consequences more," one semi-pundit wrote on a Yahoo! message board recently.

In Your Hoop
Where have all the Indian women gone? Email In the Hoop and let us know.