With the reality of a dramatic increase in wildfires over the last few years, the historical
practice of Cultural Burning or Indigenous Fire Stewardship is being revived by
indigenous communities across the world. The devastating consequence of suppressing
naturally occurring wildfires has created much more flammable fuels allowing much
larger and more dangerous fires being seen and felt around the world, particularly in
northern Canada.
Historically, many indigenous people have recognized that prescribed burns maintain
the health of an ecosystem as natural fire occurrence does and reduce fuel sources in a
forest. They Improve soil quality, improve light entering the forest and thereby increase
forest diversity (Stewardship of the Land, Scott Dudiak, Whats Up Yukon, Issue: 2023,
Aug 23).
In British Columbia, the Bush Fire Act of 1874 made First Nations cultural burning
practices punishable by fines or even imprisonment. This “colonial” fear of fire has
shaped the practice of putting out all fires across North America and saw the creation of
Smokey the Bear warning about the “danger of forest fires.
Many Indigenous communities are now bringing back the practice of cultural burning,
such as the one in Burwash in 2023 (Good Fire-
season in review, Yukon Wildland Fire Management, Yukon). However some
communities have lost the expertise of the practice of cultural burning and are seeking
help from knowledge keepers with this expertise, so they can learn this practice and
carry out these burns in their communities.
This week, the Champagne - Aishihik First Nation have partnered with Parks Canada to
carry out a prescribed cultural burn in Kluane National Park about 5 kilometres up the
Mush Lake Road. To see more about this collaboration click on the link here. (Restoring
Forest Ecosystems, Kluane National Park and Reserve, https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/yt/kluane/nature/feu-fire, Government of Canada)
Comments