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In The Hoop
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2001

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

I Spent $3 Million in Taxpayer Funds and All I Got Was This Lousy Report
So Department of Interior officials won't talk about a document EDS Corporation wrote about the trust fund, as reported by Indianz.Com today. After spending nearly $3 million on it, who can blame them?

In typical consultantspeak, the report contains lots of terms that might fly over their heads. Based on what court monitor Joseph S. Kieffer has uncovered, In The Hoop can't be entirely sure the Interior knows what "architecture," "network capacity," and "information systems" mean.

After all, these are the same people who hired Dom Nessi as the first Chief Information Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. And when he left the post, the National Park Service, another Interior agency, picked him up to do the same job.

But if you ask former Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover, who shepherded the Housing and Urban Development castaway to his ranks, Nessi was the best CIO the BIA has ever had.

"I brought Dom Nessi in because I thought he was able to do the job and I stand by that decision," K.Go told us recently. "And I think Dom gave it his very best shot."

Gover: Oops, I Was Wrong!
Sometimes, Kevin Gover is wrong. Just not about the trust fund. He admits he was wrong to tell a Connecticut paper a General Accounting Office report on federal recognition was "cooked."

It turns out he made the statement before actually reading the report in its entirety. "I think they played it straight," Gover conceded recently of the GAO investigation.

"I thought before I read it all," he continues, "I shot from the hip and I was wrong."

Shot From The Blood Quantum And You're To Blame, You Give Recognition a Bad Name
No, K.Go has not teamed up with Bon Jovi to remake their "Slippery When Wet" classic. It would make a good slogan for his ongoing battles with the BIA staff that handles federal recognition, though.

After expressing disappointment with the Bush administration's decision to reconsider the Chinook Nation recognition, which he finalized on his last day in office, Gover said he is willing to stand up in court to defend his actions.

"I'd be anxious to tell my side of the story to a judge," he said. "I would be absolutely willing to testify in support of my decision anywhere, anytime."

So bring it on, basically. Incidentally, former top aide Michael Anderson (whom In The Hoop has determined does not deserve a nickname since he was only acting Assistant Secretary for all of two weeks, one of which was spent out of town, it seems) is also saying the same thing.

In Your Hoop
What's your favorite Bon Jovi song? Email In the Hoop and let us know.