You will find several resources, for example, videos, websites, books, articles and networks, listed here that can be of assistance to you when learning about and engaging in Indigenous-led fire stewardship.

Note: This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of Indigenous-led fire stewardship resources. These resources and accompanying hyperlinks are current as of March 2023.

Saskatchewan

• Big Eddy Lodge
  • This video is about Big Eddy Lodge, a hunting, fishing and ecotherapy lodge on the Saskatchewan River Delta and home to Solomon and Renée Carrière.

• Cree and Western Science Knowledge Working Together
  • This video shows the braiding of Indigenous wetland management practices and ways of knowing with Western Science methods in the Saskatchewan River Delta.
• Cumberland House Cree Nation
  • This website provides information on governance, history, programs and services of the Cumberland House Cree Nation, located in Treaty 5 territory in Cumberland House, Saskatchewan.
• Cumberland House Cree Nation, Métis Nation-Sask. Formalize Relationship
  • This article highlights the formal nation-to-nation relationship between the Cumberland House Cree Nation and Métis-Nation Saskatchewan.
• Cumberland House Museum
  • This forthcoming website will share information about the history, particularly, Métis history, of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan.

• Iskōtēw Response 10L/20L Curriculum
  • This report describes the land-based wildland firefighting curriculum developed by Renée Carrière, with the assistance of Northern Lights School Division (N.L.S.D) #113 consultants. This locally developed and provincially approved course has been delivered to Ministik Community School students of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan.

• A Made-In-Saskatchewan Climate Change Strategy
  • This website provides information on the Government of Saskatchewan’s climate change strategy along with action plans, measurement indicators, reports, guides and relevant laws that support the province’s climate change priorities.
• Métis Nation Saskatchewan
  • This website provides information about the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan which is the government representing Métis citizens in the Province of Saskatchewan.
• Ministik Community School
  • Ministik Community School holds copies of the Muskrats to Moose: Braiding Cultural Burning and Western Fire Management Project interviews. To obtain a copy, please contact the Ministik Community School Library by email at charlebois@nlsd113.ca OR by fax at 1.306.888.2193.

• Muskrats and Fire
  • This children’s book is based on Renée Carrière’s research on Indigenous-led uses of fire to support land management, for example, trapline burning, plant picking and muskrat trapping. This book has many connections to curriculum and can be used as a land-based learning resource.

• Prince Albert Grand Council
  • This website provides information on governance and programs of the Prince Albert Grand Council. The Prince Albert Grand Council is one of the largest tribal councils in Canada with a membership of over 44,000, representing 12 First Nations and the 28 northern communities in the territories of Treaty 5, 6, 8 & 10. The Prince Albert Grand Council head office is located in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

• Prince Albert Grand Council Fighting forest fires in Northern Saskatchewan: Task force interim report (April 16, 2018)
  • In 2018, the Prince Albert Grand Council released their Wildfire Task Force Interim Report that advocated for “the development of a First Nations wildfire advisory council”[1] to help in overseeing wildfire operations. Considerations included all aspects of wildfire management: location of Indigenous values, how values at risk databases are created, how to partner with Indigenous organizations and to what extent fire should be returned to Indigenous territories.

• The great Saskatchewan River Delta is a good place to start resetting our ecological compass: Ken Coates in the Globe and Mail
  • This article is a call to action for Indigenous-led and informed strategies and decision-making on land, water and resource stewardship, particularly as it relates to the Saskatchewan River Delta.

• Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency
  • This website provides information on Saskatchewan’s provincial agency on emergency management, fire safety and wildfire management.
• Saskatchewan River Delta
  • This video describes and celebrates the cultural significance of the Saskatchewan River Delta.
• Saskatchewan River Delta Conservation Initiative
  • This website describes the advocacy and related work of the Saskatchewan River Delta Conservation Initiative—an environmental conservation group committed to protecting the Delta in perpetuity.

Canada

• Alberta Wildfire Training – 50^th Anniversary
  • This video recognizes the role of Indigenous wildland firefighters in shaping wildfire training and the wildland firefighting profession in the Province of Alberta.

• Ancient Fire Prevention Practices, Reignited
  • This article shares insights on Indigenous-led fire stewardship, governance, cultural burning and related Indigenous-led fire practices.
• The art of fire: reviving the Indigenous craft of cultural burning
  • This article explores fire, law and politics over time in Indigenous-led fire practices with a call to action in support of cultural burning revitalization.

• Canada needs Indigenous-led fire stewardship, new research finds
  • This article is a call to action in support of Indigenous-led fire stewardship in Canada—with insights on this topic shared by Dr. Kira Hoffman and Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson.

• Canada Wildfire
  • This website contains information and related resources on wildland fire science across Canada.

• Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction System (also known as the “Red Book”)
  • This book provides Western Science information on fire behaviour, for example, fire spread rate, fuel consumption, fire intensity and fire descriptions.

• Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System (also known as the “Yellow Book”)
  • This book provides Western Science information on fire weather such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and 24-hour precipitation.

• Canadian Forest Service
  • This website provides scientific and policy information and related resources on national forest sector issues across Canada.

• Cultural burning: Could more fires be the solution to B.C.'s wildfire problem?
  • This article is a call to action for Indigenous-led cultural burning revitalization in British Columbia.

• ‘Cultural burning’ important for biodiversity: UBC expert
  • This question and answer-styled article with Dr. Kira Hoffman discusses how Indigenous-led fire practices support wildfire management, improve food supplies and encourage biodiversity of local flora and fauna.

• Giving Voice to Cultural Safety of Indigenous Wildland Firefighters in Canada
  • This project is the first research of its kind to provide preliminary data on cultural safety and occupational health and safety based on the voices of Indigenous wildland firefighters across Canada. The executive summary and technical report provide insights on understanding Indigenous perspectives on wildland firefighting and wildland fire operations in Canada.
• Fires of the Spring
  • This video highlights the research work of Henry T. Lewis regarding the historic uses of fire by Indigenous Peoples, including how Indigenous Peoples manage and rejuvenate ecosystems to support habitat restoration and diversity.
• FireSmart Canada - Blazing the Trail: Celebrating Indigenous Fire Stewardship
  • Blazing the Trail details first-person stories, artwork and photos about Indigenous Peoples and fire stewardship. This book celebrates and shares wise practices and lessons learned in Indigenous-led fire stewardship in Canada across generations.

• First Nations’ Emergency Services Society Adapt Program
  • Led by the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society (FNESS) in British Columbia, this program assesses climate change vulnerabilities such as drought and wildfires and gathers Indigenous cultural values and traditional burning knowledge from participating communities. From there, cultural burn plans are co-developed based on the braiding of Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of knowing. A culturally relevant climate change adaptation evaluation framework is being co-developed to assess the effectiveness of cultural burn planning.

• FNESS Integrated Fire Management Planning Approach
  • This video provides information on FNESS’s integrated fire management planning approach in British Columbia which supports holistic resource values in First Nations communities and surrounding areas of interest.

• Indigenous cultural burning can boost biodiversity, help fight forest fires: Canadian study
  • This article explores the need to change the human-fire relationship through the use of Indigenous-led fire practices.

• Indigenous Cultural Burning: Shackan Indian Band
  • In this video, watch and listen to the stories and experiences of Indigenous cultural burning at the Shackan Indian Band in British Columbia.

• Indigenous Cultural Burning: Xwisten (Bridge River)
  • In this video, watch and listen to the stories and experiences of Indigenous cultural burning at Xwisten in British Columbia.

• Indigenous Leadership Initiative
  • This website describes the work of an Indigenous-led not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of Indigenous nationhood. Core programs include Indigenous guardianship, Indigenous protected and conserved areas and Indigenous land use planning and governance that support ecosystem stewardship.

• Métis National Council Wildfire Workshop
  • This video highlights stories and knowledge from the 2022 Métis National Council Wildfire Workshop where Traditional Fire Keepers, (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) wildfire scholars and practitioners discussed the importance of reclaiming fire, putting fire on the land and renewing our connection to wildfire.

• Métis Wildland Firefighters: Connecting with Traditional Land Stewardship
  • This video explores the important role that Métis wildland firefighters play in protecting the land and people’s properties across the Canadian Prairies. Métis wildland firefighters in Canada are featured in this video and share their individual and collective insights on how Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and cultural values influence their work and identities as Métis wildland firefighters.
• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
  • This website is a collection of information about the truth and reconciliation journey in Canada. As Canadians, we all have individual and collective roles in understanding the living history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and advancing reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples as outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.
• OCAP ®
  • This website provides information about OCAP Principles which are First Nations standards in collecting, protecting, using and sharing data. OCAP stands for Ownership, Control, Access and Possession.

• Our Future with Fire: Barriers and Opportunities for the Revitalization of Fire Stewardship
  • This webinar discusses some of the barriers in applying controlled fire on the land and the opportunities associated with Indigenous-led fire stewardship.

• Revitalizing Traditional Fire Management in Tsilhqot’in Territory
  • This website provides information on the work of Yunesit’in and Xeni Gwet’in First Nations regarding the development, implementation and evaluation of an Indigenous-led fire stewardship program for Tsilhqot’in title lands and the Dasiqox Tribal Park area in the central interior area of British Columbia.

• The Role of First Nations Guardians in Wildfire Response & Management
  • This proposed national strategy focuses on the role of First Nations guardians in advancing Indigenous-led fire stewardship, wildfire response and management.

National Indigenous Strategies and Statements on Climate Change, Emergency Management, Fire and Indigenous Rights

• Assembly of First Nations
  • This website provides information about the national advocacy role of the Assembly of First Nations. This role includes facilitation and coordination of national discussions and dialogue, legal and policy analysis and communications in areas such as emergency services and the environment.

• Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
  • This website provides information about the national advocacy role of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples who represent Indigenous Peoples who live off reserve in urban or rural settings across Canada.

• Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
  • The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) represents the protection and advancement of rights and interests of Inuit in Canada. In 2019, ITK launched a strategy focused on supporting Inuit in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking action to lessen climate change effects.

• Métis National Council
  • The Métis National Council represents the interests of Métis governments and their Peoples in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. This includes policy areas such as emergency management and the environment.

• Native Women’s Association of Canada
  • The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) works to advance the well-being of Indigenous women and girls across Canada, as well as their families and communities through activism, policy analysis and advocacy. In recent years, NWAC was instrumental in advocating for a national inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). In 2018, NWAC prepared a fact sheet on emergency management priorities for Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people.

International

• California needs to burn. Native women are leading the way
  • This Washington Post video highlights how a group of Indigenous women from the Karuk Tribe in Northern California (USA) are bringing back uses of fire on the land to support Indigenous-led fire stewardship.

• Clemson University Fire Tigers
  • This video features the Clemson University Fire Tigers Program based in South Carolina (USA). Through classroom and hands-on and experiential learning, this Program instructs students about land and forest management decision-making through the safe and effective use of prescribed burning practices.
• Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils
  • This website is a community of practice of prescribed fire councils focused on awareness, education and leadership in the use of prescribed fire across the United States of America.
• Cultural Burning
  • In this video, W. Kamau Bell (CNN) learns about cultural burning practices, particularly Native American-led fire practices in the State of California (USA).
• Cultural Burning and Collaborative Fire Research and Management: Approaches for Respectfully Partnering with Tribes
  • This webinar explores the work of Dr. Frank Lake (USA) regarding the decolonization of fire management. The webinar focuses on the history of cultural burning and ways to support collaborative wildland fire management with tribal partners.

• Djandak Wi: Traditional Burning Returns
  • This video documents the revitalization of Indigenous land management practices in Central Victoria (Australia) after 170 years. The story shared in this video was a partnership between Djaara and Forest Fire Management Victoria.

• Firesticks Alliance
  • This website shares the work of the Firesticks Alliance in Australia, an Indigenous-led network that focuses on cultural burning revitalization. Firesticks Alliance is committed to cultural learning and managing lands in a way that heals Country (the land).
    
    For more information about cultural burning certification and assessment, read the following article: Supporting the next generation of Indigenous Fire Practitioners.

• Good Fire
  • This video is about how Native American-led fire practices can help improve biodiversity.
• Good Fire: Stories of Indigenous Fire Stewardship Podcast
  • In this podcast, co-hosts Matthew Kristoff and Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson invite guest speakers to explore how fire can support ecological health and cultural empowerment by Indigenous Peoples around the globe. “Good fire” is a term used to describe fire that is lit with the intention to achieve specific ecological and cultural goals. Good fire is about balance.

• Good Fire - Current Barriers to the Expansion of Cultural Burning and Prescribed Fire in California and Recommended Solutions
  • As part of the Karuk Tribe Climate Change web page, reports and a video are posted on this site about cultural burning and prescribed fire expansion in California (USA). Recommendation and calls to action are also shared.

• Indigenous Peoples Burning Network
  • This web page provides information on the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network which is a community of practice among Native American communities committed to cultural burning revitalization in a contemporary context.

• Karuk Climate Adaptation Plan
  • This is a digital copy of the 2019 Karuk Climate Adaptation Plan prepared by Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources (kukuum yav nukyaati peethivthaaneen).
    
    For more information on the connections between climate adaptation planning and Indigenous-led uses of fire, visit the following web page: The Karuk’s Innate Relationship with Fire: Adapting to Climate Change on the Klamath.

• Keepers of the Flame (University of California, Davis) course
  • This 2020 report provides a summary of the “Keepers of the Flame” curriculum—a hands-on, experiential, collaborative post-secondary land-based course on Indigenous-led fire practices. The course involves field trips and workshops that bring together students, community members and Indigenous fire practitioners to learn about the significance of Indigenous-led burning in ecosystem health and balance. The “Keepers of the Flame” course is a collaboration between California Indian tribes and the University of California, Davis.
    
    For more information about this course, read Keepers of the Flame: Supporting the Revitalization of Indigenous Cultural Burning.
• Managing For Socio-Ecological Resilience First: How a New Type of Indicator Enhances Wildfire Resilience Monitoring
  • This article shares learnings from the Karuk Tribe (USA) in the area of fire effects monitoring. There is discussion on how cultural keystone species, for example, huckleberries, have been selected by the Karuk Tribe as indicators to evaluate wildfire resilience and socio-ecological resilience over time.
• Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX)
  • This web page provides information on prescribed fire training exchanges that are intended to increase the number of qualified, experienced prescribed burners and support more prescribed fire projects. TREX are designed to address unique landscape needs while keeping community values in mind. These training events provide practical, hands-on training opportunities for TREX participants.
    
    For more information, visit TREX Prescribed Fire Training Exchange Facebook Group.

• State of California – prescribed burning operations and wildfires:
  In 2021, there were changes made in liability legislation for cultural burning in California (USA). The following laws have been amended to broaden the scope of prescribed burning operations and wildfires to recognize cultural burning revitalization and cultural burners.
  • SB-332 Civil liability: Prescribed burning operations: Gross negligence (California, USA)
  • AB-642 Wildfires (California, USA)

• Tending the Wild: Cultural Burning
  • This video shares stories and lived experiences of Native Americans in California who use fires to support ecosystem stewardship in meadows, coastal prairies and grassland areas.

• Through the Fire: Restoring Forest Resilience
  • This video explores the use of prescribed fire in the Sycan Marsh (Oregon, USA) where fire effects (fire behaviour and forest management) were monitored before, during and after the Bootleg Fire. Fire effects monitoring in the Sycan Marsh is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, The Klamath Tribes and the US Forest Service.

• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  • This document outlines all of the articles that make up the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). UNDRIP was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007 and by Canada in 2016. This declaration establishes a comprehensive international framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous Peoples of the world. It elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms as they apply to the specific situation of Indigenous Peoples.

• The Victorian Traditional Owner Cultural Fire Strategy
  • This Strategy based in Australia supports Indigenous rightsholders engaging in cultural burning revitalization to heal and care for Country (land).
• What if Indigenous women ran controlled burns?
  • This article describes the Karuk Women’s inaugural prescribed fire training exchange (TREX)—the first prescribed fire training uniquely customized for Indigenous women.
• Why forest managers need to team up with Indigenous fire practitioners
  • This op-ed article in the LA Times serves as a call to action in wildfire management and climate change adaptation for the use of intentional and controlled burning led by Indigenous Peoples.

 Indigenous-led Fire Planning Tools

• Cumberland Delta Resource Management Fires Burn Plan
  • This is a digital copy of an Indigenous-led fire prescription for the Cumberland Delta wetlands in northern Saskatchewan. Readers have an opportunity to see a completed and approved Indigenous-led fire prescription that supports the rejuvenation of flora and fauna in these wetlands.

• Resource Management Fire Post Burn Report
  • This post burn reporting template for an Indigenous-led fire prescription is intended to support evaluation and fire effects monitoring

 

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