FROM THE ARCHIVE

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In The Hoop
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2002

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

I'm Just a Civil Engineer...
When he's not eating turkey sandwiches with lots of mustard or reading from the scriptures, Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb is fond of pointing out his technical background.

He ran his own engineering consulting firm until he admits the economy got the best of him and he had to shut it down. But he hasn't lost his attention for detail, which is what got him excited this past weekend, when he learned he was going to terminate countless trust accounts by reading all about it on Indianz.Com.

It's not me that's doing it, he told an aide yesterday morning, whipping out page 72 of a court report to prove himself. It's the Office of the Special Trustee, he proclaimed.

Lost in the paper shuffle, though, were a few pages (pp. 60-63) where McCaleb did talk about eliminated accounts. Up to $420 per year in administrative and $1,500 in probate costs are saved when an account is closed, his certification noted.

He also mentioned the subject yesterday at the opening day of the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) impact week gathering. "If your kids have trust in a bank that's only generating a penny a year in the account, and it's costing a $100 a year to maintain that trust, what would they do? They'd terminate the trust."

When asked to explain exactly what in the world McCaleb meant, an aide said he was worried people might get the wrong idea about what he "told" a federal judge. When asked if McCaleb has raised a formal objection to the closing of any account for any reason, the aide admitted no knowledge of such a position.

I'm taking land-into-trust!
There may be only 54 million acres of land held in trust for tribes and individual Indians but don't blame McCaleb for not trying to increase it, the Assistant Secretary said yesterday.

In response to criticism that the Bush administration seems to be placing the interests of states above those of tribes (a complaint which drew applause), McCaleb said he recently approved a land-into-trust application for California's United Auburn Indian Community despite "considerable, local, political opposition."

"Let the record show it hasn't all been one way," McCaleb said, hoping to draw attention away from his revocation of the trust land regulations, his reversal of a few recognition decisions and his reopening of the debate of state input into Indian gaming issues.

But what Auburn decision was that, one might ask? It's that one where his deputy Wayne Smith announced it was finalized, but due to considerable, local political opposition, was pulled back!

When asked to explain this disconnect, an aide said McCaleb must have recently approved the decision himself but has never "told" anyone about it.

I'm Leaving!
For someone who is still (allegedly) recovering from a hip injury suffered recently at the National Congress of American Indians, McCaleb sure is a quick fellow.

As soon as he finished his remarks yesterday, he darted out of the conference room at Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., faster than you could say BITAM. The speed with which he exited recalled former Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt's sprint out of NCAI a couple years ago in California.

So McCaleb unfortunately missed Deputy Commissioner Sharon "I'm Not Fired! I'm Still Here!" Blackwell's little tribute. For her efforts in helping move the Eastern Area office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs from suburban Washington, D.C., to USET-approved digs in Nashville, Tennessee, she was given a basket filled with sweetgrass, ash and a CD of Divas Live.

OK, so we're kidding about the the divas bit, a little. Blackwell graciously accepted her gift and said sweetgrass was important in her tribe's culture.

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