Al Falconer, president of the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors, was quick to credit local home-care nurses of the mid-1980s for the construction of the facility.

"The conception of Aven Manor went back 14 years when home-care nurses saw in the community a need for improved care for mostly single men who first came to Yellowknife in the '40s as miners."

For the past decade, Aven Manor has housed 137 Northerners. The average age of residents is 80, with ages of actual numbers varying between 61 and 107.

Since its opening, the facility has maintained a 95 per cent occupancy rate, with a cost of $136 per day per resident. Residents pay only $23 a day to live there, though.

Two nurses have been working in the complex since its opening, and 11 have been there at least five years.

Falconer was presented with two awards at the celebration for his volunteer efforts with the association.

Charles Dent, MLA for Yellowknife Frame Lake, presented Falconer with the 1997 GNWT Outstanding Volunteer Award.

And Carver Sonny MacDonald presented him with an eagle-feather carving which, he explained, represents the highest honor in native culture.

"That is the highest, or at least one of the highest, honors that can be bestowed on an individual," said MacDonald.

Since opening, Aven Manor has maintained around a 35 per cent aboriginal residency rate.