S1002: Invalid column number in ColAttributes

I get this error in ms access 97

 S1002: Invalid column number in ColAttributes.;

any time I try to do complex query that includes fields that are a
combination of fields.
Where does this error come from and how can I fix it?

I notice that access calls the query in postgres,
there is no error but
immediately access queries postgres like this:

select u.usename, c.relname, a.attname, a.atttypid, t.typname, a.attnum,
a.attlen, a.atttypmod, a.attnotnull, c.relhasrules from pg_user u,
pg_class c, pg_attribute a, pg_type t where u.usesysid = c.relowner and
c.oid= a.attrelid and a.atttypid = t.oid and (a.attnum > 0) and
c.relname like 'tbl_family' order by attnum

which seems to indicate that it wants to verify that all the returned
field names are the way it thinks they should be...

respectfully,
Joseph