Indigenous communities in Alberta coping with 'emotional roller-coaster' of wildfires

Indigenous communities in Alberta have seen some of the most serious damage from the wildfires so far, leaving evacuees trying to cope with the impact on their homes.

As of Friday, wildfires forced evacuations from four First Nations in Alberta, as well as one Métis settlement. A dozen more First Nations were on watch for wildfire threat, and have been taking "pre-emptive measures," according to Indigenous Services Canada. 

Significant damage has been reported in several communities, with dozens of homes destroyed in Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Fox Lake in Little Red River Cree Nation.

A 2022 Health Canada report details how Indigenous communities are uniquely at risk from the impacts of climate change, including longer and more intense wildfire seasons. The resulting evacuations also have a distinct impact.

Parks Canada Indigenous fire specialist Amy Cardinal Christianson created an evacuation guide specifically for Indigenous communities in 2021 after speaking to more than 200 wildfire evacuees.

She told CBC's Edmonton AM on Thursday about how people who have to flee First Nations in an emergency can run into jurisdictional issues trying to get the help they need, since reserves get assistance from the federal government, but the provincial government is in charge of emergency management.

Evacuation might also mean travelling a long way for people from remote areas.

"For First Nations and Métis communities, what makes it especially hard is that lots of them are transported quite a ways away from their home community," she said.

"Another thing is food. Especially as lots of communities rely on traditional food sources, and suddenly they're eating a much more western diet."

'An emotional roller-coaster'

Gary Moostoos was evacuated from his home in Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation more than a week ago. In an interview from a hotel in Grande Prairie on Friday, he said it's been a difficult time for everyone from the tight-knit community, but they're trying to support each other and make sure Elders are taken care of, even as some families are split up.

"It's really been an emotional roller-coaster here," he said.

"We all experience those feelings together. You go out and sit with the people that are at your hotel, the Elders, we all look after each other."

He said so far, his house is still standing, but the fire has destroyed some of his siblings' homes.

But besides the structures, Moostoos said key parts of the community and the culture are aalso being lost.

"At the reserve, we have our own areas that we live in, it's like clusters of families. And within those clusters, we also have the environment around us ... especially the medicines and the berry bushes that we grew up in — all those are gone."

At East Prairie Métis Settlement, more than a dozen occupied homes have also burned to the ground, and as of Friday, the community remains under evacuation orders.

"They do live a traditional way of life as well ... a lot of them, they would have still their moose meat and wild game that they harvested during the fall and winter season," said Alberta Métis Settlement Council president Dave Lamouche.

All that meat is gone, he said, since the community hasn't had any power since May 5.

"There's one, he lost everything. His trapping equipment and guns, his hunting supplies — really devastating, life-altering situation, absolutely."

High Level Mayor Crystal McAteer said Friday that the town has gained a lot of knowledge from sheltering people forced to leave northern Indigenous communities over the years.

"We learn from every fire," she said.

She is advocating for a central evacuation centre that can meet the specific needs of surrounding Indigenous communities.

"Many of our evacuees come from the reserves, that like Fox Lake, for example, are remote ... so a lot of the people have never left Fox Lake. A lot of the Elders, they speak Cree. Same with the Dene [communities] — they speak Dene. They don't speak any other language."

Lamouche said the communities trying to cope with the wildfires are resilient, but they will need support in the months to come.

"Hopefully they'll recover. It's going to take some time, but we need the support of Albertans, and Canadians, all."