Fort Mckay First Nation

Fort McKay Elders Age Policy History When the IRC first began its operations, the IRC defined an Elder as a Community as member (First Nation or Metis) that is 50 years of age or older. This age category did not follow the Fort McKay First Nations age due to the fact that the number of Community members 65 years and older was sparse. For that reason there was concern that there was not a large enough pool of Elders with which to consult.... The IRC spoke to the Elders of this concern, the Elders in their wisdom, decided that to address this concern; the IRC should define an Elder as someone who was an adult prior to the first industry group coming onto the land (some 30 years before). In this way the group of knowledge holders would have experienced life prior to oil sands development and would have a good understanding of the changes that occurred since this development began. During 2008, the IRC initiated a review on how the IRC should organize meetings and how to deal with the Elders’ participation in community meetings. As a result of individual surveys and an Elder’s workshop, the IRC adopted a new guideline for the definition of an Elder as of January 1, 2009. The age definition of an Elder will be changed to be an individual who is 60 years or older. Any community member that was between 50 60 years of age on December 31, 2008 will be grandfathered-in and considered an Elder; and A common law spouse of an Elder must have been living in Fort McKay for 2 years in order to attend Elder’s meetings. He/she may attend evening meetings with the remainder of the community without payment if they do not meet the mentioned criteria.

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