FROM THE ARCHIVE

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In The Hoop
MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2002

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

Happy New Year
The new year is upon us so that means it's time for a fresh start here at In The Hoop. We're not making any resolutions, though, because we're already perfect.

Consultation is Continuing!
That's not to say others shouldn't make promises to improve. Former Cherokee Nation chief and former Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer might be one.

Back in his Oklahoma stomping grounds last week for a third attempt at consultation over the Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management (BITAM), Swimmer again sat on the panel and said nothing. But that didn't mean tribal leaders didn't speak at him.

A couple, including one Kiowa council member, took swipes at Swimmer's prior record running the Bureau of Indian Affairs, recalling he was at the table back in the late '80s when another Republican administration took a stab at reorganization. Others made note that the "same old political hacks" that seem to be behind the proposed agency.

But if you want official record of the comments, you're going to have to wait. After promising for weeks that it would have an official transcript of the December 13 Albuquerque, New Mexico, meeting on its (rather lame) Indian trust web site, the Department of Interior has yet to make the document available.

The Digital Divide Has Been Broken!
It's official. Indian Country has high-speed Internet access. How do we know?

Because the aforementioned web site presupposes Indian people have such good Internet capabilities that they will wait hours to download a couple of videos the Interior has digitized. So if you dare, visit the speeches section of the site and start watching! By the time the file is complete, you might just have your Individual Indian Money (IIM) check in hand.

Or not.

Consultation is Continuing! Part II
Besides Osage Nation Chairman Charles Tillman spending most of the time reading The Daily Oklahoman (who could blame him? It's not like the Interior is paying any attention), there were little surprises at last week's consultation session, attended by about 40 tribal representatives but an audience of around 200.

Tribal leaders and account holders complained the event was really a scoping meeting and not a formaul consultation, that BITAM is a horrible idea and that giving each person five minutes to speak (a limit one Navajo Nation delegate willfully ignored, drawing protest from Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb who told him to "respect" the condition) was inadequate.

But a third also emerged. Commenters called for one-stop, quick and easy access to their trust assets. We want everything in one building, they said, because we're tired of going to Anadarko!

So, Secretary Gale Norton, who says she won't withdraw her proposal unless an alternative is presented, the option is clear. Scrap BITAM, shuffle the letters around a bit, hand over the reins to Uncle Sam Walton and let him open BIA-MART.

In Your Hoop
Do you think an Indian trust Wal-Mart is a good idea? Or would you prefer an Native Target? Email In the Hoop and let us know.