Canada’s wildfire season is taking a heavy toll on First Nations

Wildfires have torn through Indigenous communities across Canada this summer, forcing more than nine thousand people from their homes since April. In British Columbia, the Bradley Creek fire destroyed homes belonging to over thirty Okanagan Indian Band members, wiping out family photographs, heirlooms, and Elders' histories in the process. Grist reports at least eighty-one First Nations have been affected nationwide, with communities from Ontario to British Columbia describing inadequate firefighting equipment, delayed emergency assistance, and evacuation alerts that weren't even provided in Indigenous languages. In Ontario, leaders are now demanding an independent public inquiry, calling the province's wildfire response a catastrophic and systemic failure.

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