District 2

FALON MCALPIN

402-208-0297
falonm@poncatribe-ne.gov
Greetings to all my relatives and fellow Ponca Members! My Name is Falon McAlpin. I am the Daughter of Becky Crase (Suverkrubbe), Granddaughter of Ronald Suverkrubbe, Great Granddaughter of Goldie Pappan, and Great Great Granddaughter of Linda Pappan. My family of four Ponca Tribal Members includes, my partner Jacob Olsufka who is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), and our two boys Kolby and Kai.

My passion is for Our People and my drive is to continue to serve and grow all of our programs and services into sustainable initiatives, so our Tribe can continue to thrive in the richness of our ancestor’s vision for Our People.

As our Tribe continues to develop on our home lands and benefits continue to grow for out of service delivery areas, I will continue these initiatives to serve both local and out of service delivery area programs. Being involved with Prairie Flower Casino since opening, I am apprised of the current expansion plans and my extensive background in the Tribe spanning across Health and Tribal Affairs allows me to envision the endless opportunities that are available for our Tribe and our People.

I started working for the Ponca Tribe in 2008 when I was 21 years old, holding positions in both Health and Tribal Affairs. I left employment with the Ponca Tribe to pursue my master’s degree at Bellevue University. During that time, I stayed engaged with the Tribe and served as the Chair of the Election Board from 2015 to 2018. In 2018 I was hired as the Deputy Director of Tribal Affairs and quickly promoted to the Executive Director of Tribal Affairs (EDTA).  I served in this capacity until October of 2021 when I stepped down to work for the Prairie Flower Casino as the Training and Recruitment Specialist. I wanted to be able to serve our Tribal Community by recruiting quality team members to be the face of our casino and contribute to the casino’s success and prosperity.

During my time as Executive Director of Tribal Affairs, I sat on multiple boards and committees including, Law and Order Code, Law and Justice, Culture and Language, Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and was a Guest to the Elders Council. As one of the D2 representatives, I intend to be fully involved and invested in our tribe, including sitting on multiple boards and committees.

I oversaw the growth and development of the following programs and services: Buffalo Program, Education, Enrollment, Environment, Culture, Domestic Violence, Facilities, Grants Management, Land Management, Social Services, Ponca Express, Transportation, Land Management, Tribal Court, Workforce Development, and our Sioux City and Lincoln office sites. I was a leading force for our Tribal Affairs division through two National Disasters; 2019 Flood and 2020 COVID Pandemic.

I was also involved with the purchase of 2,000 plus acres of our original home land near the Niobrara River, making us the largest land owner in Knox County. This allows for future plans of cabins and hunting for our Tribal Members. With our land expansion efforts, I partnered with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to create a Land Management Program that was added to our Tribal BIA Contract. The Buffalo program was also added to the BIA contract at the same time, which assists in contributing to the sustainability of our Buffalo Herd.

I look forward to continuing to grow our Tribe and moving us forward so we can continue to serve our Elders, Youth, and all members both inside and outside of the service delivery areas.