The Northern Ponca Hotline is one of many member-led Facebook groups for the tribe. There are people on this site who speak against anyone living outside of the service district areas. More members live outside of the service district area than in the service district area. The last demographics released show 2000 members in the service district area and 3333 members outside of the service district area as of February 2023, according to the tribe's official website under the tribal enrollment section. https://poncatribe-ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sda_population_2023.pdf
What is a service area? After being terminated as a tribe, when applying to be federally recognized as a tribe again (reinstatement), the stipulation included that the tribe could not have a reservation. This is different from other tribes. These areas are recognized within 100 miles of the tribe's offices. All members are counted for federal funds and grants, yet most of the benefits are given to those members who live in the service district areas.
Please keep in mind that Tribal Council representatives represent a majority of members who live outside of the service district area that they will never meet. Most elected Tribal Council representatives live in the area already when they run and are then elected. There are stipulations to run for the Tribal Council that make it difficult for outside of the service district area members to get on the ballot. Getting fingerprinted in Nebraska if you live in Alaska is difficult to arrange, for example. Having to physically get signatures from members to be on the ballot within the district you want to represent is also difficult for people who are not local. Candidates are provided with the names and addresses of registered voters to get endorsements to be on the ballot. No phone numbers or emails are provided. The expense for an outside member to run far exceeds the cost of an inside service district area member. There are ways to lessen this expense and these obstacles. Still, the laws get stricter, and the fees get more expensive. It is a system designed to discourage outside members from running and getting a seat at the tiny and exclusive table that is the government of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.
Look at what the Chair of the election board posted on the Northern Ponca Hotline on August 15th, 2024 below.
This post suggests that the Chair of the election board believes that in-service members knowing a candidate somehow should be a priority. The candidate she is referring to lives within 100 miles of the district but is listed as a member of another nearby district, as there is an overlap between districts. This is within the rules. Anyone can live anywhere and run for any district/chair if they move within 100 miles in the first 90 days after being seated. It does not sit well to know that someone in charge of the election and election board thinks that the in-service members should have to know their elected officials. When did the in-service area members become so important? Why would the election board chair promote such a closed circle of exclusion in the tribe? Getting to know one another should be a goal realized throughout the tribe on all levels and in every area.
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