Fire. Smoke. Orange Skies. That’s what the Cree nation, a group of indigenous people, experienced all summer during Canada’s fire season.
In early July, fierce wildfires fueled by dry conditions in northern Quebec burned through large swaths of spruce forests, cabins, and tourist camps. The fires cut off the region’s only transportation, a single, paved, 370-mile stretch of highway with little or no cell reception.Before evacuation orders were issued, some residents had tried to leave along the Billy Diamond Highway, as the road is known, only to be greeted by flames and smoke.
“I honestly wasn’t sure we’d make it out,” said Joshua Iserhoff, a member of the Cree nation of Nemaska. Like other residents, he was forced to turn back with his wife and two children and find another way out.
The blazes have taken a devastating toll on everyone, but especially on Indigenous communities. This is because the fires burn the forests that they depend on for food, disrupting hunting and gathering.
Canada’s wildfire intensity and frequency are linked to climate change and have set records for the area of land they have burned. On Friday, more than 1,000 fires burned across Canada, and about 600 were out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. Since May, the wildfires have burned more than 47,000 square miles of land, forcing more than 25,000 Indigenous residents from British Columbia to Nova Scotia to evacuate. For comparison, 47,000 square miles is about the size of New York State.
“Before, if we had fire, it was only in one place,” says Mr. Wapachee, an evacuee. “Now it seems to be a fire here, a fire there, fire everywhere.”
Due to the fires, Indigenous residents must evacuate, sometimes multiple times. Some were airlifted by commercial airliners or Chinook helicopters operated by the Canadian Royal Air Force. Others who couldn’t travel by air due to age or health issues were brought to safety by an 11-hour bus ride on rugged gravel roads.
“I’ve never seen that level of evacuation in Cree Nation, simultaneous communities all at once,” said Mandy Cull-Masty, the first woman elected grand chief of the Cree nation in Quebec. “Never has that happened before.”
Diane Amy Tanoush recorded a video as she and other Indigenous people living at a summer settlement evacuated.
“It’s starting to get dark,” she said. “This is our fifth time evacuating.”
In early July, fierce wildfires fueled by dry conditions in northern Quebec burned through large swaths of spruce forests, cabins, and tourist camps. The fires cut off the region’s only transportation, a single, paved, 370-mile stretch of highway with little or no cell reception.Before evacuation orders were issued, some residents had tried to leave along the Billy Diamond Highway, as the road is known, only to be greeted by flames and smoke.
“I honestly wasn’t sure we’d make it out,” said Joshua Iserhoff, a member of the Cree nation of Nemaska. Like other residents, he was forced to turn back with his wife and two children and find another way out.
The blazes have taken a devastating toll on everyone, but especially on Indigenous communities. This is because the fires burn the forests that they depend on for food, disrupting hunting and gathering.
Canada’s wildfire intensity and frequency are linked to climate change and have set records for the area of land they have burned. On Friday, more than 1,000 fires burned across Canada, and about 600 were out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. Since May, the wildfires have burned more than 47,000 square miles of land, forcing more than 25,000 Indigenous residents from British Columbia to Nova Scotia to evacuate. For comparison, 47,000 square miles is about the size of New York State.
“Before, if we had fire, it was only in one place,” says Mr. Wapachee, an evacuee. “Now it seems to be a fire here, a fire there, fire everywhere.”
Due to the fires, Indigenous residents must evacuate, sometimes multiple times. Some were airlifted by commercial airliners or Chinook helicopters operated by the Canadian Royal Air Force. Others who couldn’t travel by air due to age or health issues were brought to safety by an 11-hour bus ride on rugged gravel roads.
“I’ve never seen that level of evacuation in Cree Nation, simultaneous communities all at once,” said Mandy Cull-Masty, the first woman elected grand chief of the Cree nation in Quebec. “Never has that happened before.”
Diane Amy Tanoush recorded a video as she and other Indigenous people living at a summer settlement evacuated.
“It’s starting to get dark,” she said. “This is our fifth time evacuating.”