Chief says seeing wildfire ravaged Kátł'odeeche reserve for 1st time was emotional

The chief of an N.W.T. First Nation ravaged by wildfire more than two weeks ago was finally able to return to the reserve and survey the damage for herself on Monday.

"It was really emotional going in there," said Kátł'odeeche First Nation Chief April Martel. 

"I'm trying to be positive, and I know we can build our nation back up, like as a nation we will build it back up. But it was pretty — like usually I cry when I see things like that — and it was emotional as I started going further into the community."

The fire led to evacuation orders for the Town of Hay River and the Kátł'odeeche First Nation reserve on May 14. Hay River residents were allowed to start returning to their unscathed community last week, but Kátł'odeeche members are still waiting. 

In the early days of the fire, officials with the territorial government said 15 buildings on the reserve had been damaged. Martel later said 18 families had lost their homes and that five major buildings had been damaged — including the Judith Fabian Group Home. 

Some buildings, like the band office, have been completely destroyed, said Martel. She wasn't able to say on Tuesday exactly how many structures were damaged, explaining that she's still waiting for assessments to be carried out. 

"I don't want to give those numbers yet until it's finalized," she said. 

But Martel was able to give more of a sense of what was lost at the band office: artifacts, art made by elders that had been on display, a copy of a Treaty 8 map, a moose hide and equipment — including three newly purchased drones — belonging to the lands department. 

Martel said her tour of the reserve on Monday was difficult, but it was also a chance to show her staff, who will be advocating to government officials, the loss that they're now helping the community grapple with. 

"I wanted to bring them on the ground and say 'this is what you're working for.'"

Kátł'odeeche First Nation has not released photos of the damage on the reserve as of yet.

Martel has been discouraging people from sharing photos of the damage on social media because members haven't been allowed to see it for themselves yet.

"People haven't even seen their burned houses … they haven't seen the catastrophe that's happening in the community. And I try to tell people to be respectful," she said. 

Return date for members still 'up in the air'

Martel said the territory's Department of Environment and Climate Change is still in her community, and there's still a lot of work to do before residents will be allowed to return home.

Power has not been restored in the community yet, said Martel, and Northland Utilities is still working to fix and replace burned power poles. 

Volunteer fire crews have been helping to clean out fridges and freezers of food that'll have gone bad, she said. 

Martel hopes to let members return in the coming days or within a week, but said that it could be longer and things are still "up in the air." 

Camp trailers are being brought to the community for people who've lost their homes, and the plan is to build them new homes — with families guiding the design process. 

Martel said a lot of her members are feeling frustrated and lonely, and some of them are angry. 

"It hasn't really hit me yet. [Monday] it did, but it hasn't really hit me yet. I don't know if you understand that," Martel said, noting that even before the fires — her community was dealing with a lot of trauma. 

"We need mental wellness workers in the community … we need to really work to heal our people and help one another."