Impact of Wildfires on Indigenous Communities

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Unprecedented wildfire seasons create havoc in the northern hemisphere, fueled by dry conditions and ravaging through spruce forests. Most notably, the fires severed a 370-mile highway with already weak cell reception, leaving many indigenous communities isolated. Residents who tried to flee were met with high winds and flame-covered roads spreading 14 miles an hour. 

Since late April, countless wildfires have burned through Canada, consuming more than 47,000 square miles of forests and displacing over 25,000 Indigenous residents. The fires have particularly affected the indigenous communities, as they reside on the frontlines of fires. Many of these communities rely heavily on nearby forests for resources, while already not being much of a priority for firefighters. 

In Canada, with an indigenous population of 5%, 42% of wildfire evacuations are occurring in these indigenous communities, with 106 wildfires affecting over 93 tribes and 25,000 people. Evacuations of indigenous peoples have been ordered by community leaders and government officials, displacing families in hotels and gym shelters. By July 2023, 88% of the Cree communities in Quebec were under complete evacuation orders, having them end up being taken away by helicopters or by 11-hour bus rides. The fires have also extended to severely damaging Cree traplines essential for hunting and trapping towards the colder seasons. 

Mandy Gull-Masty, a member of the Waswanipi tribe, describes this experience to The New York Times as, “[being] refugees of climate in this territory… constantly escaping either risk of fire or impact of smoke in the community.” In Canada’s northern latitudes, it is government policy to allow these wildfires to burn until it threatens major infrastructures. However, this wildfire is now 2.5 times the size of the largest wildfire recorded in California, even leading to hazardous levels of smoke pollution across the East Coast. 

Indigenous communities are extremely vulnerable, as they are left out of crucial decisions on forest management and fire response, with their initiative of leading fire management long being suppressed by the government. 

Climate change plays a major role in exacerbating these wildfires, leaving many communities to predict this will become the norm in the next few years. 

These effects will last for countless generations buried beneath the soil, making it difficult for trees and other plants to flourish. Fires are killing traditions and histories, disrupting indigenous peoples routines, and slowly burning away cultures.