In 2021, a deadly heat dome produced a devastating wildfire season across British Columbia. While immediate media coverage often focuses on evacuations and the numbers of homes destroyed, many First Nations say what these fires do to the land in their territories — and the cultural lives of their communities — is often overlooked. "These fires are killing our way of life," says a Tmicw coordinator for the St'át'imc Chiefs Council. IDEAS visited St'át'imc territory around Lillooet, B.C. to learn how 21st-century wildfires are reshaping the landscape — and their consequences for plants, animals, and humans alike. *This is part one in a two-part series.

Guests in this series:

Chief Justin Kane, elected Chief of Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation

Michelle Edwards, Tmicw coordinator for the St'át'imc Chiefs Council and the former Chief of the communities of Sekw'el'was and Qu'iqten

Sam Copeland, senior land guardian for the P'egp'ig'lha Council

Luther Brigman, assistant land guardian for the P'egp'ig'lha Council

Travis Peters, heritage supervisor and interim lands manager for Xwísten First Nation

Gerald Michel, council member and the Lands Resource Liaison for Xwísten First Nation

Denise Antoine, natural resource specialist for the P'egp'ig'lha Council

Dr. Jennifer Grenz, assistant professor in the department of forest resources management at the University of British Columbia. She leads the Indigenous Ecology Lab at UBC, which works entirely in service to Indigenous communities on land-healing and food systems revitalization projects that bring together western and Indigenous knowledge systems and centres culture and resiliency.

Virginia Oeggerli, graduate student in the Indigenous Ecology Lab in the faculty of forestry at UBC

Dr. Sue Senger, biologist working with the Lillooet Tribal Council

Jackie Rasmussen, executive director of the Lillooet Regional Invasive Species Society

How brutal wildfires are 'killing' Indigenous ways of life

Ideas