Prophet River First Nation Comprehensive Nation Plan

2025 | Prophet River First Nation, BC

Prophet River First Nation (PRFN) is located 100km south of Fort Nelson, British Columbia. It’s an area characterized by intense cold, sudden thaws, vibrant growth, and crisp autumn colours. PRFN’s reserve community is found along the Alaska Highway, and their traditional territory expands across boreal forest of spruce, aspen, and birch.

Prophet River First Nation is a Treaty 8 Nation with more than 100 registered members residing on reserve. They have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Fort St. John to establish “urban reserve” lands nearby, providing members with places to call home within the city. In 2025, PRFN partnered with McElhanney to lead community consultations, the outcomes of which would guide updates to their Comprehensive Nation Plan (CNP) and support the development of membership and election codes in later project phases with McElhanney.

These documents are fundamental elements of PRFN’s governance framework, and would be opportunities to express their people’s proud, strong, and independent culture as members of the Dene Tsaa Tse K’Nai First Nation. Comprehensive Nation Plans provide long-term community vision and priorities, guiding governance, development, and cultural renewal, while membership and election codes define who belongs to a Nation and allows the Nation to design and run its own electoral process. PRFN selected McElhanney to facilitate community consultation on these formative documents for a handful of reasons, including McElhanney’s hundreds of hours of experience in the local area and McElhanney’s relationships with Nations like We Wai Kai and Upper Nicola Band.

Between August and October 2025, McElhanney planners collaborated with Elkplan Design Inc. to organize community engagement activities at Treaty Days in Prophet River. The event included an in-person engagement tent where community members and leaders discussed ideas and options related to the CNP update and the development of member and election codes. A drop-in information session in Fort St. John gathered member and public input on the development of the Nation’s lands in the city.

McElhanney and Elkplan Design used feedback from early discovery sessions with PRFN to shape engagement activities to fit PRFN member preferences. Based on discovery feedback, the in-person engagement events in Fort St. John and Prophet River eased travel burdens by taking place during Treaty Days celebrations, and included great food, childcare, and interactive activities like live drawing from Elkplan Design and sticky note feedback. The phase culminated in collecting participation from remote members through online meetings using polls, virtual whiteboards, and live drawing.

The next phase of this project is already underway, and McElhanney is preparing draft codes and CNP updates for final review by PRFN Chief and Council. With the update and creation of these formative documents, Prophet River First Nation’s framework of governance will be fortified and strengthened, a testament to PRFN’s mission as a people:

We are Prophet-able. | We are a sustainable, resilient, and independent Nation. | Our members thrive.

Learn more about Prophet River First Nation here, on their website.

McElhanney provided: