Returning to Burning in Gitanyow Lax'yip
By Kira Hoffman, Darlene Vegh, and Kevin Koch
Kevin Koch conducting a cultural burn in Wilp Gwass Hlaam in the spring of 2024. Photo: Marty Clemens
The five most impactful wildfire seasons in terms of area burned, intensity, and social-ecological impacts in British Columbia have all occurred since 2017. In 2023, over 2.8 million hectares burned, 82% of which were in northern BC.
At the time of writing, it’s mid-July 2024 and we are once again experiencing significant wildfire impacts with many weeks left in the wildfire season. Extreme wildfire events have been amplified by the combined effects from a century of effective fire suppression, a rapidly warming climate, and large-scale industrial forestry. Further, the forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their territories through colonization has eroded subsistence stewardship practices including cultural burning. And although fire can be frightening and destructive, fire is integral to ecosystems and species across all regions of BC. Proactive fire management through cultural and prescribed burning provides significant benefits to ecosystems, wildlife, and human communities. Although Indigenous fire science and knowledge is becoming increasingly recognized, research on climate adaptation, ecosystems, and food security are still primarily driven by western scientific knowledge systems.
“Approximately 60% of Indigenous communities in Canada are in remote forested areas, and Indigenous peoples are 42% more likely to be evacuated due to wildfires.”
Darlene Vegh (front) and Kira Hoffman (back) use drip torches to ignite dry and dense brush on a cultural burn in Wilp Gwass Hlaam. Photo: Marty Clemens
Indigenous peoples have used fire as a tool for resource management and community protection for millennia. These practices are not static and have adapted through time with changes in vegetation and shifts in climate. Historically, forests and grasslands surrounding habitation sites were routinely burned to maintain accessible food gathering areas such as berry patches, root gardens, and orchards[5]. These “food tables” were enhanced by fire which increased the productivity of food and medicinal plants, created fodder for game, and protected communities from unwanted wildfires. Approximately 60% of Indigenous communities in Canada are in remote forested areas, and Indigenous peoples are 42% more likely to be evacuated due to wildfires [6]. Our collaborative research project with the Gitanyow Nation explores how revitalizing fire stewardship practices can help increase the health and biodiversity of ecosystems and protect critical cultural and economic values from increasing wildfire risk.
“Indigenous fire knowledge has not been forgotten, but the knowledge has suffered loss through cultural fire suppression and colonial impacts to the people and the land.”
The Gitanyow Lax’yip (territory) encompasses approximately 6,200 square-kilometres between the Skeena and Nass rivers, and contains many culturally important plant and animal species along with critical habitats; therefore, ensuring that lakw (fire) is returned in a way that honours historic cultural and natural fire activity is important. The team also recognizes the need to adapt to a rapidly changing climate and ensure the places where cultural burning occurs now and into the future will support generations to come. To understand traditional fire practices, we conducted interviews with Elders and Wilp (house group) members. We utilize the Gitanyow language whenever possible to celebrate cultural revitalization and Indigenous sovereignty. We also acknowledge Gitanyow Ayookxw (law), practices, histories, and presence on the land as continuous and reflected in both their shared past and future generations. Our program helps build capacity and practitioner experience within the Gitanyow Lax’yip Guardian program.
In the spring of 2024, we began the process of returning fire to the Gitanyow Lax’yip (territory). Our collaborative efforts were supported through the Simgigyet’m Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, The BC Wildfire Service, The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, National Geographic, and the Trebek Initiative. Lakw (fire) was returned to two forest types: sbagaytgangan (mixed conifer and aspen forest) and am’melk’ali’aks (floodplain cottonwood forest) adjacent to the community of Gitanyow. Burns were completed in the spring when patches of snow limited fire spread into the treeline. (Dead and dry vegetation burns easily in the spring, but more dense and bigger logs and trees are less likely to ignite as they are still wet from the winter months). The burn helped create fodder (new grass, herbaceous, and woody shrubs) for ungulates such as xa’daa (moose [Alces alces]) and to support early food staples, such as ts’anksa’gaa (nodding onion [allium]), gasx (northern rice root [Fritillaria camschatcen-sis]), sdetxs (stinging nettle [Urtica dioicia]), and many other food and medicinal plants. Please see First Voices (www.firstvoices.com) to learn more about the Gitanyow language.
Darlene Vegh and Kira Hoffman discussing how to apply fire to increase the growth of nodding onion on a spring burn in Wilp Gwass Hlaam. Photo: Marty Clemens
Food sovereignty is a significant and irreplaceable component of rebuilding Indigenous collective wellbeing and is centered around harvesting and consuming food and medicines stewarded with lakw (fire). Cultural burning also builds capacity to adapt to climate change, providing options for living healthy lives that are connected to place. Current environmental changes are threatening the nutrition and health of Indigenous peoples around the globe, and a return to traditional ways of stewarding the land can be accomplished only with sufficient access to restored ecosystems. For many Indigenous peoples, it’s not only nutrition and health at stake, but also the entire maintenance of their knowledge systems and identities[7].
“Food sovereignty is a significant and
irreplaceable component of rebuilding Indigenous collective wellbeing and is centered around harvesting and consuming food and medicines stewarded with lakw (fire)”
Indigenous fire knowledge has not been forgotten, but the knowledge has suffered loss through cultural fire suppression and colonial impacts to the people and the land. Through collaborative partnerships, the Gitanyow Lax’yip Guardians completed the first cultural burn in almost a century. It will be the first of many. For the community of Gitanyow, returning to burning restores a way of life and a cycle of fire management that was utilized for millennia.
Dr. Kira Hoffman is a fire ecologist and fire practitioner supporting Gitanyow’s fire stewardship program. Elder Darlene Vegh is an Indigenous fire expert from Wilp Wii Litsxw, Gitanyow Nation. Kevin Koch is a wildlife biologist and Gitanyow Lax’yip Guardian’s Manager.
References
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Hoffman, K. M., Christianson, A. C., Gray, R. W., & Daniels, L.(2022). Western Canada’s new wildfire reality needs a new approach to fire management. Environmental Research Letters,17(6), 061001.
Copes-Gerbitz, K., Daniels, L. D., & Hagerman, S. M. (2023). The contribution of Indigenous stewardship to an historical mixed-severity fire regime in British Columbia, Canada. Ecological Applications, 33(1), e2736.
Dickson-Hoyle, S., Ignace, R. E., Ignace, M. B., Hagerman, S. M., Daniels, L. D., & Copes-Gerbitz, K. (2022). Walking on two legs: a pathway of Indigenous restoration and reconciliation in fire-adapted landscapes. Restoration Ecology, 30(4), e13566.
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Christianson, A. C., Johnston, L. M., Oliver, J. A., Watson, D., Young, D., MacDonald, H., ... & Bautista, N. G. (2024). Wildland fire evacuations in Canada from 1980 to 2021. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 33(7).
Turner, N. J., Ignace, M. B., & Ignace, R. (2000). Traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. Ecological applications, 10(5), 1275-1287.