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In The Hoop
MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2002

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

Pete's Preachings
Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), it appears, has found God. After bristling a few feathers last November when he told tribal leaders to get on the Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management (BITAM) bandwagon or be left behind, it seems like the train has come back to the station.

"BIA School Reform Doomed Without Intense Cooperation with Tribal Leaders" reads the press release his office sent out on Thursday. (That was when he told Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb not to cut funds to the Crownpoint Institute of Technology on the Navajo Nation, well at least not without sending a lackey to check the scene out first.)

But the real focus of Domenici's missive was the privatization proposal the Bush administration has launched to fix the most troubled of Indian schools. "This is a plan that has not been vetted in Indian Country, which is why I am hearing more and more concerns about school closures," he wrote.

Contrast that statement with this one, made on November 20: "I know there is some concern about tribal consultations in developing this plan and questions about its implementation. But I believe New Mexico’s tribal leaders should study the plan and work with the Bush administration on this."

Sounds like someone picked up a copy of Indian Country Today recently. But this makes In The Hoop wonder if a change of heart is due on the Sandia Mountains.

Don't count on it.

We're Not Making This Up
Did you hear the one about the former Cabinet secretary who got lost in the Arizona foothills / desert / mountains / forest this past weekend?

It turns out that Bruce Babbitt, Mr. Nature himself, went missing during a group hike in his home state. But according to local Washington, D.C., television stations, the Babbitt camp refused to talk about how long he was gone, where he was found and how he got "lost" in the first place.

And according to the Associated Press, all of this happened without confirmation from outside authorities: "When the group returned to their vehicles, Babbitt couldn't be found and someone called the sheriff's department."

"About a half hour after the initial call, a group member called officials again to say Babbitt had returned, said Don Rosenberger, [a] sheriff's spokesman."

"The caller said Babbitt was fine."

Sound fishy? You be the judge.

A Deaf Man Speaks
Once conservative, hearing impaired talk-show host Rush Limbaugh (whose web site pictures are ageless, by the way) gets behind something, you know it's passe and pointless. (Either that, or there's some good eats ahead.) So it is with great sadness the In The Hoop marks the passing of the newsworthinees of The Fighting Whities.

Witness his recent commentary on the subject: "Now, I think that's great!"

"I love this, and it doesn't offend me at all! I'd be proud to be on the team - which is the difference here. There isn't a white person around that's going to be offended by this. These guys are going to be thought of as creative and heroes. They're going to get their own offers from advertising agencies to come up with advertising campaigns for McDonald's next. Of course, a poll by the Peter Harris Research Group found over 80% of Native Americans don't think sports teams should change the names either."

In Your Hoop
Got an interesting tip to spill? Email In the Hoop and let us know.