When the smoke clears: Indigenous communities worry about connections to the land after wildfires

It starts with a poplar tree branch.

With a slight hand and a sharp blade, the bark slides right off. Using just the right pressure, and technique honed through practice, the carver makes a series of cuts into the soft wood. In a matter of seconds, he slides the bark back on.

A Grade One student eagerly reaches for the new whistle. He blows air into the tiny wooden instrument, discovering another way to make music.

This is why students come to the Nihithow Askiy Cultural Education Camp — to make new connections with nature.

At least once a week, students in Stanley Mission, Sask., come to the site in the woods to learn the Cree language along with land-based ways of living including hunting, gathering and tool-making.

But wildfires have already forced those lessons to change.

"We didn't do rabbit snaring this year. We'll let them reproduce," said land-based teacher Sylvia McKenzie.

"We used to see lots of rabbit tracks out here, but this year not so much due to the fire."

This year has officially seen Canada's worst fire season on record. More than eight million hectares have burned so far in 2023.

Much of that land sustains treaty rights such as hunting, gathering and cultural practices. Some members of Indigenous communities worry that, if nothing changes soon, the land and traditional ways of life will suffer.

Stanley Mission, located about 500 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, is intimately familiar with wildfires. In 2015, residents were among 8,000 northerners forced from their homes due to raging fires.

The small community of about 1,500 has been evacuated several times since then, including 2021 and 2022, when fire came within kilometres of most houses.

The forest lining the gravel highway leading into Stanley Mission tells the story. 

"The forest you see here are the birch trees that burned in 2022," said Maurice Ratt, the emergency management co-ordinator for the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, which includes Stanley Mission and five other First Nations.