This year’s dry weather in Canada combined with global warming led to raging wildfires spreading across the country, the dense smoke visible even in the United States. Thousands of Indigenous people were forced to flee from their homes for the fifth time this year.
Ever since the Canadian wildfire season started in May, around 47,000 square miles of brush were burned, and the Department of Indigenous Services had to pay $55 million in order to compensate Indigenous communities that lost their homes. Residents that tried to leave beforehand were blocked by small fires erupting from the road’s surface.
“I honestly wasn’t sure we’d make it out,” said Joshua Iserhoff, an Indigenous resident who was forced to turn back with his family and who eventually found another way out.
“The wind was so ferocious it almost picked up the vehicle,” he said, calling the drive a “traumatic experience.”
The fires in Canada this year have set records for how much land has been burned. In fact, just one single fire that started on June 1 has now expanded to two and a half times the size of the largest wildfire recorded in California.
“I don’t think these fires will stop until everything is burned,” Kurtis Black, the fire chief of Nemaska, said. “These fires are here to stay until fall gets here — or the snow.”
When interviewed, Mandy Gull-Masty, the first woman elected grand chief of the Cree Nation in Quebec, criticized the government for its policy to mostly refrain from fighting wildfires in the northern section. This year’s fires have caused major damage to Cree traplines, which are crucial for hunting and trapping in the fall and winter, she said.
“Our territory doesn’t have a super high population, and we don’t have a lot of infrastructure that needs to be protected,” Ms. Gull-Masty said. “But for us, our territory is our infrastructure.”
In July, 21,000 people in eight of only nine Cree communities in Quebec, Canada had to evacuate.
“I’ve never seen that level of evacuation in Cree Nation, simultaneous communities all at once,” said Ms. Gull-Masty. “Never has that happened before.”
“Before, if we had fire, it was only in one place,” William Wapachee, an Indigenous resident that got evacuated, said. “Now it seems to be a fire here, a fire there, fire everywhere.”
Finally, as a relief, July 20 brought rain, which helped extinguish the fires, allowing 300 evacuees to return to their homes. However, this relief was short-lived. Three days later, the fires blazed back again, and everyone had to evacuate.
“This is our fifth time evacuating,” said Diane Amy Tanoush.
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/world/canada/canada-wildfires-indigenous-communities.html
Ever since the Canadian wildfire season started in May, around 47,000 square miles of brush were burned, and the Department of Indigenous Services had to pay $55 million in order to compensate Indigenous communities that lost their homes. Residents that tried to leave beforehand were blocked by small fires erupting from the road’s surface.
“I honestly wasn’t sure we’d make it out,” said Joshua Iserhoff, an Indigenous resident who was forced to turn back with his family and who eventually found another way out.
“The wind was so ferocious it almost picked up the vehicle,” he said, calling the drive a “traumatic experience.”
The fires in Canada this year have set records for how much land has been burned. In fact, just one single fire that started on June 1 has now expanded to two and a half times the size of the largest wildfire recorded in California.
“I don’t think these fires will stop until everything is burned,” Kurtis Black, the fire chief of Nemaska, said. “These fires are here to stay until fall gets here — or the snow.”
When interviewed, Mandy Gull-Masty, the first woman elected grand chief of the Cree Nation in Quebec, criticized the government for its policy to mostly refrain from fighting wildfires in the northern section. This year’s fires have caused major damage to Cree traplines, which are crucial for hunting and trapping in the fall and winter, she said.
“Our territory doesn’t have a super high population, and we don’t have a lot of infrastructure that needs to be protected,” Ms. Gull-Masty said. “But for us, our territory is our infrastructure.”
In July, 21,000 people in eight of only nine Cree communities in Quebec, Canada had to evacuate.
“I’ve never seen that level of evacuation in Cree Nation, simultaneous communities all at once,” said Ms. Gull-Masty. “Never has that happened before.”
“Before, if we had fire, it was only in one place,” William Wapachee, an Indigenous resident that got evacuated, said. “Now it seems to be a fire here, a fire there, fire everywhere.”
Finally, as a relief, July 20 brought rain, which helped extinguish the fires, allowing 300 evacuees to return to their homes. However, this relief was short-lived. Three days later, the fires blazed back again, and everyone had to evacuate.
“This is our fifth time evacuating,” said Diane Amy Tanoush.
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/world/canada/canada-wildfires-indigenous-communities.html