For the Kainai Nation, cultural fire used to be common. Their reserve in southern Alberta is the largest by land area in Canada. People remember their grandparents and Elders using it to replenish berry bushes or make the grass greener. “The last time I ever seen anyone burn was in the mid-1990s,” Alvin First Rider, Kainai’s environmental manager, told The Narwhal. But last month, fire returned to Blackfoot territory through a training organized by First Rider to support the nation’s fledgling fire guardians program.
In March, Kainai signed an agreement with National Resources Canada to fund a fire guardians program. Though many Indigenous guardians programs have received federal funding, Kainai is the first to receive federal support for restoring the cultural use of fire. Joy SpearChief-Morris, a freelance journalist and Kainai member, attended the training and wrote about its significance in today’s feature story, with gorgeous photos by Gavin John.
Good fire is not only important for healthy ecosystems; it’s also a social justice issue, according to Amy Cardinal Christianson, senior fire advisor with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. “It’s not like people just forgot it and walked away, it was systematically taken away from Indigenous Peoples through prosecution, through fines, through jail time,” she told Joy.
For First Rider, bringing fire back to the land is interwoven with the work of the Blackfoot Confederacy to restore bison — what he calls a “living restoration project” rooted in respect, culture and sovereignty. Gavin and freelance journalist Jimmy Thomson reported on that effort late last year; their article was honoured just this week as the best feature story in its division at the Indigenous Media Awards.
Prescribed burns are another form of “good fire,” but cultural burns are distinct in that they are Indigenous-led and have cultural significance, drawing together community members of all ages. Though Kainai’s $500,000, three-year funding agreement with National Resources Canada is an important step to restoring cultural fire, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what Canada spends fighting wildfires annually. Investing in more fire guardians programs, Christianson says, is an important and economical strategy for reducing the risk of devastating wildfires.
A few summers ago, Emma McIntosh was up at her family cabin on the north shore of Lake Huron when a juvenile black bear came knocking — or more so, smashing. After three decades of visits to the cabin, she’d never had an encounter like this.
The bear’s repeated blows against the door of the small cabin had Emma searching for deterrents, a rescuer and a better understanding of the way we interact with our ursine neighbours.
In last week’s newsletter, we asked for photos and stories about the gear that has helped you enjoy the great outdoors. Thanks to all who responded! We loved hearing about the coats, boats, packs and sleeping bags that have helped keep you safe and warm.
… and the award for the most rugged piece of equipment goes to Don Meredith’s 1963 Kelty frame backpack, the “Cadillac” of packs for its era. Don recalls that he saved up for it as a teenager, for a 211-mile trek with friends along the John Muir Trail in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. “Since then that pack has been with me practically everywhere I’ve been in the outdoors,” Don says, including three seasons (and three successful summits!) as a ranger in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, trips as a student wildlife biologist in the Canadian Rockies and various excursions in Alberta and B.C.
Now at age 79, Don says his Kelty sits in the garage, next to his wife’s, as a reminder of “the great places it has helped me visit and learn about.”
If you have your own piece of gear that takes you on trips (in the great outdoors and down memory lane), send us a note! We’d love to receive more of your photos and stories for future newsletters.
— Jacqueline Ronson, assistant editor
This week in The Narwhal
From $2,600 to $775: how social housing in Metro Vancouver is changing lives — and fighting climate change By Shannon Waters
Can new homes be energy efficient, low emission, climate resilient and affordable? B.C. non-profits show it can be done.
‘The premier is telling untruths to First Nations’ — a turbulent week in Ontario politics By Carl Meyer READ MORE
Alberta moves to weaken its carbon price amidst talk of national ‘grand bargain’ By Drew Anderson READ MORE
How Wade Grant, Musqueam member of parliament in Vancouver, plans to face divisive times By Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood READ MORE
We hope your next adventure takes you somewhere special, however you get there! Remind your friends to subscribe to The Narwhal’s newsletter for reporting that’s truly immersed in the natural world.
Since the election of Prime Minister Mark Carney in April, Alberta and the federal government have been talking about a “grand bargain” to balance rapid...
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Your access to our journalism is free, always. Sign up for our newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Alberta — and across Canada — you won’t find anywhere else.
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