The Impacts of Fire on Indigenous People

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Hank Lewis was one of the first researchers to document indigenous fire stewardship and its role in shaping the landscape. He worked with the Woodland, Cree and Denny people in Northern Alberta. In the 1970s when he did his work that he thought that between 90 and 95 percent of that knowledge had been lost. And so we're getting these massive big fire events that have come through. So for indigenous people, you know, like my family and others, they, my family were actually Buffalo hunters and they used fire in the Buffalo hunt, but also afterwards to improve the habitat forbuffalo.

Once again: the world is on fire. As wildfires burn across Canada and their smoke pours down the continent, we thought it would be a good time to encore these Fire Ecology episodes. First, Dr. Gavin Jones brings the heat talking about what fire is, how hot it burns, fire trends, tinderboxes, lots and lots of forest fire flim-flam, tolerant wombats, Angelina Jolie movies, cunning pine cones, thick bark, Indigenous fire stewardship and more.

Then, join co-host of the podcast Good Fire, Dr. Amy Christianson, to learn about how cultural burns and prescribed blazes can create healthy forests. She also discusses Indigenous history, collaborations between Western science & First Nations elders, Aboriginal thoughts on cultural burns, more flim-flam, evacuations, snowmelt, hunting strategies, land stewardship, happy trees, climate strategies, and the social science behind wildfire education. Also learning from Native wildfire fighters. Huge thanks to her and Matt Kristoff -- who also hosts the Your Forest Podcast -- for allowing us to use excerpts from their interview to launch Good Fire. Subscribe to both podcasts to get more ecological knowledge in your ears.

CDC Advisory on Wildfire Smoke

Follow Dr. Gavin Jones on Twitter

Follow Dr. Amy Christianson on Twitter

Donations were made to The Common Good Community Foundation and Indigenous Residential School Survivors

Listen to the “Good Fire” podcast

Also great: Your Forest podcast

Other episodes you may like: Dendrology (TREES), Forest Entomology (CREEPY CRAWLIES), Xylology (LUMBER), Pyrotechnology (CAMPFIRES), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT)

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