BurnPlanFrameworkDevelopment:Re-establishingIndigenousCulturalBurningPracticesto

MitigateRiskfromWildfireandDrought

XwistenNation

AmyCardinalChristianson

DarrickAndrew

NatashaCaverley

JeffEustache

CIFe-lectureNovember28,2018

Acknowledgements• GeraldMichel,XwistenNation

• BradleyJack,XwistenNation• Xwistenfireknowledgeholders

• IndigenousServicesCanadaFirstNationsAdaptProgram

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• Indigenouscommunitiesaresomeofthemostat-riskfromwildfireimpacts

• MostevacuatedcommunitiesinCanada• DeerLakereserveON• (DeerLakeFN)

• SummerBeaverreserveON• (NeskantagaFN&NibinamikFN)

• MostevacuatedFirstNation• LacLaRongeIndianBandSK– 14timessince1980!

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• AlongHighway40• 4,023hectaresspreadover2reserves• 464registeredmembers,200livingon-reserve

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Main Village• Over 30 homes and other

structures including a church, small fire hall, pump house

Orchard Springs• Over 50 homes and other

structures including the band office, community center, health center, daycare, arbour, fire hall, and pump house

• Xwisten Volunteer Fire Dept. services both these areas including another 30 homes and structures outside these 2 main residential areas

• Dry, open south-facing slopes and flat benches• Sagebrush, bunchgrass, saskatoon and soopolallie• Immature and mature Ponderosa Pine and Douglas-fir

• North-facing slopes primarily Douglas-fir with Ponderosa Pine in the valley bottom• Same species as above but with denser areas of brush, shrubs, and trees in the wetter areas

• Mountain Pine Beetle outbreak• Areas of Fd and Py mortality still remain

• Severe drought in summer of 2009

• Result• Increased surface fuel loading and risk of severe wildfire

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Existing forest structure & past impacts

• Extensivefireburningpractices

• SignificantlossofIndigenousknowledgeinfavourofWesternpractices

• Currently,thereareunhealthyforestconditionsandanincreasedwildfirerisktotheXwistencommunity

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• Firefighting• FirefightingisseenasarespectedcareerchoiceamongstIndigenouspeoples

• Multi-generation

• Indecline

• LackofrecognitionoffireexperienceoverWesterneducation

PhotographcourtesyofCraigDarcyMoberley9

ResilientandRelentless

IndigenousKnowledge• SomepreferthetermTraditional,Local,orEcologicalKnowledge

• Butallknowledgematters???

• IKISascience– itdoesn`tcontributetoscience• Basedonobservation,almostalwayslong-term

• Relationshipwiththeland• Context-specific• Canbehandeddownthroughgenerations• Canchange• Canbegeneratedtoday

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• Treestalktoeachother• Summary- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/

• Treeshaveaheartbeat• https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.01814/full

• Birdsusefire• http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2993/0278-0771-37.4.700

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IndigenousResilience

Culture

SpiritualNorth

Air/Wind

Elders

PhysicalEast

Fire

Childhood

MentalSouth

Earth

Youth

EmotionalWest

Water

Adult

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• Is a multi-year project (2017-2019) – officially commenced in October 2017

• Engages two First Nations communities: Xwisten (Bridge River Indian Band) Shackan Band

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FNESS First Nation Adapt Project: Revitalizing traditional burning – Integrating Indigenous

cultural values into wildfire management and climate change adaptation planning

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BEC zone and NDTBiogeoclimatic zones

• Ponderosa Pine zone (PP)• Low elevation along the valley bottom and south-facing slopes

• Interior Douglas Fir zone (IDF)• Mid to upper elevation and north-facing slopes

Natural disturbance type• NDT 4 – frequent stand-maintaining fires

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FBP Fuel TypesC7 fuel type

Ponderosa Pine/Douglas Fir over storyXwisten (Bridge River Indian Band)

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Theyhadatraditionalburnintherefortheanimals,theberries,whateverelse.Andthenuphigh,inallthisarea,theyburntforthemountainpotato.Mountainpotatowasoneofthemainedibleplantsthatyouget.Theygetinch,inchandahalfbig.Soyou’llhavetostartinthemorningrightup‘tilnoon,youmighthaveenoughforlunch.And13,14Iguess,onHighway40about,Iwouldsay, 4kilometersupthehillatAppleSpring,theyhadanothertraditionalburn.Thatwasforberriesandgame,andyoucouldstillseetheburnthere.Sothat’sclosetothereserve.Theotherplacesaremilesfromhereandthat’swhyIaskedyouifyouhadamapsowecouldcircleitonthemap,thenyouwon’thavetoguess.BonanzaCreekwasabigburn.That’sHighway40upnearGoldBridge.AndGunCreekwasanotherbigburn.ThisisforbothberriesandwildlifeandHungryValley,theyburntintherebecausepeoplelivedthereandit’salongwayfromtownsotheylivedofftheland,likeyoucan’tcometotownanytimeyouwantto.Youcan’tjumpinyourcaranddrivetotown.Hadtojumponahorsetogetanywhere,ifyouhadahorse.ButifnotthenalongtheFraser,bothsideswas burnttogetridofthewoodtickmainly,toburnthewoodtick,andwellsamealongalltherivershere.Thewoodtickcangetsobadheresometimesthatyouhavetodoaburntogetridofthemeh.Whentheystartkillin’animal,that’swhenit’sgottabedone. Butrightnow,I’veseenpicturesofmooseupinourneighboringreservesupthisway,thewoodticksaresobadthatthemoosearestaggeringrightnow.Sotimeforaburn.Andthepeople,likebeforeourreservesweremade,thepeoplefromneighboringvillagesusedtocomeandhelpdotheburnbecause,likePavillionusedtocomeoverandhelpus.We’dgooverandhelpthem.They’retraditional burnsarethesameasoursbutfordifferentreasons.Likelottaplacesuptheretheberriesdon’tripenasfastastheydohere‘causewegot14hoursofsunshineherewhereupthere,it’sallprettywellblockedinbymountains.AndyouhadGunCreek,Paradise,theseare allinprettywellinthesame,differentwatersystemsbutprettywellallclosetogetherandHungryValleytheydidthatforpeoplethatlivedthereandPoisonMountainburn.PoisonMountain’sinbetweenhereandthereandPonyValley’sonthissideoftheriverat109ontheWestPavillionRoad,youturnoffthere.Thatwasdoneforberriesandmooseanddeerandwhatnot,andthat’saboutallIknowinmyterritoryotherthanthinkin’aboutwhatreallyhappenedouttherebackintheday.Alotofthesefiresgotawayfrompeoplesoalotofthefireswerenotcausedbyusbythetraditionalburns.Theywerecausedbylightningorhumancarelessness.There’shorsetrailseverywhereyougo.Thatwasanothermainreasonwhyitwasburntloweh,kepttheflamesouttathetrees.Sotheberriesandeverythingthatgrowinthegroundwillnotdieonaccountoftheheat.Sohaveyougotanyquestionsforme?

KenThomas– FireStory

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Fuel TreatmentsXwisten (Bridge River Indian Band)

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• From 2007 to 2016 treated well over 110 ha of reserve land as well as 24 ha of Provincial crown land

Fuel Treatments

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• Trained and experienced work crew, with all necessary equipment and resources to conduct forest fuel management activities.

• Skills, capacity and training for fire suppression crews.

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References

• Berry, S. and Brink, J. (2004) Aboriginal Cultures in Alberta: Five Hundred Generations. McCallum Printing Group Inc., The Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, 81 pp.

• Clark, J.S. and Royall, P.D. (1995) Transformation of a Northern Hardwood Forest by Aboriginal (Iroquois) Fire - Charcoal Evidence from Crawford Lake, Ontario, Canada. Holocene, 5(1): 1-9.

• Dey, D.C. and Guyette, R.P. (2000) Anthropogenic fire history and red oak forests in south-central Ontario. Forestry Chronicle, 76(2): 339-347.

• Dods, R.R. (2002) The death of Smokey Bear: the ecodisaster myth and forest management practices in prehistoric North America. World Archaeology, 33(3): 475-487.

• Ferguson, T.A. (1979) Productivity and Predictability of Resource Yield: Aboriginal Controlled Burning in the Boreal Forest, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, 145 pp.

• Gottesfeld, L.M.J. (1994) Aboriginal Burning for Vegetation Management in Northwest British-Columbia. Human Ecology, 22(2): 171-188.

• Lewis, H.T. (1988a) Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Fire in Northern Alberta: Something Old, Something New, Something Different. In: P.A. McCormack and R.G. Ironside (Editors), Proceedings of the Fort Chipewyan and Fort Vermilion Bicentennial Conference. Provincial Museum of Alberta, pp. 222-227.

• Lewis, H.T. (1988b) Yards, Corridors, and Mosaics: How to Burn a Boreal Forest. Human Ecology, 16(1): 57-77.

• Lewis, H.T. (1983) Why Indians Burned: Specific Versus General Reasons. In: J.E. Lotan, B.M. Kilgore, W.C. Fischer and R.W. Mutch (Editors), Proceedings - Symposium and Workshop on Wilderness Fire, Missoula, Montana, pp. 75-80.

• Lewis, H.T. (1982) A Time for Burning. 17, Boreal Institute for Northern Studies, University of Alberta.

• Lewis, H.T. (1980) Indian Fires of Spring. Natural History, 89(1): 76.

• Lewis, H.T. (1978a) Fire of Spring [motion picture], Canada, pp. 32 min, 30 sec.

• Lewis, H.T. (1978b) Traditional Uses of Fire by Indians in Northern Alberta. Current Anthropology, 19(2): 401-402.

• Lewis, H.T. (1977) Maskuta: The Ecology of Indian Fires in Northern Alberta. The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology, 7(1): 15-52.

• Lewis, M., Christianson, A., and M. Sprinks (2018). Return to Flame: Reasons for Burning in Lytton First Nation, British Columbia. Journal of Forestry, Volume 116, Issue 2, 12 March 2018, Pages 143–150,

• Loscheider MA (1977) Use of fire in interethnic and intraethnic relations of the Northern Plains. The Western Canadian Journal of Anthropology VII(4), 82–96.

• Mason L, White G, Morishima G, Alvarado E, Andrew L, Clark F, Durglo M, Durglo J, Eneas J, Erickson J, Friedlander M, Hamel K, Hardy C, Harwood T, Haven F, Isaac E, James L, Kenning R, Leighton A, Pierre P, Raish C, Shaw B, Smallsalmon S, Stearns V, Teasley H, Weingart M, Wilder S (2012) Listening and learning from traditional knowledge and Western science: a dialogue on contemporary challenges of forest health and wildfire. Journal of Forestry 110(4), 187–193. doi:10.5849/JOF.11-006

• Pyne, S.J. (2007a) Awful Splendour: A Fire History of Canada. UBC Press, Vancouver, B.C., 549 pp.

• Reid, D.E. (1987) Fire and Habitat Modification: An Anthropological Inquiry Into the Use of Fire by Indigenous Peoples, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, 183 pp.

• Stewart, O.C. (2002) Forgotten Fires: Native Americans and the Transient Wilderness. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

• Huffman MR (2013) The many elements of traditional fire knowledge: synthesis, classification, and aids to cross-cultural problem solving in fire-dependent systems around the world. Ecology and Society 18(4), art3.

• For more, please see the references in: Christianson A. (2015) Social science research on Indigenous wildfire management in the 21st century and future research needs. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24, 190–200

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Contacts

• AmyCardinalChristianson,CanadianForestService• Amy.Christianson@Canada.ca

• DarrickAndrew,FNESS• dandrew@fness.bc.ca

• NatashaCaverley,TurtleIslandConsulting• natasha@turtleislandconsulting.ca

• JeffEustache,FNESS• jeustache@fness.bc.ca

• BradleyJackforXwistenNation• administrator@xwisten.ca

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