First Nations people say devastation from B.C. wildfires threatens cultural identity

Most of Mike McKenzie's summers were spent hunting moose and deer out of his family's camp near his community of Skeetchestn, near Kamloops, B.C. 

But it's been a long time since McKenzie has done this. 

"It's too dangerous," said McKenzie, about record-breaking heat and longer, more intense fire seasons. 

McKenzie has been displaced from his traditional territory since 2017, when the Elephant Hill wildfire burned nearly 192,000 hectares of Secwepemc land. Four years later the community was hit again by the Sparks Lake wildfire that burned about 68,500 hectares. 

This year another series of wildfires has devastated the interior of B.C., disrupting fishing and hunting practices for many First Nations. 

"When you're facing this kind of heat, it gets very nerve-racking to go out there and actually hunt and do all the work you got to do knowing that a big fire could take out your camp or you could have to evacuate," said McKenzie. 

He said what used to be thick lush forest with creeks and waterfalls is now bare with blackened rocks and trees. 

"I knew every rock, every road, every tree, every corner, everywhere you could possibly be," said McKenzie, about the land near his community before the fires. 

"It looks completely different."

McKenzie was the former fire chief of Skeetchestn, and said he worries about living in the interior B.C. now. 

"We're looking at an extinction of our ways if we can't access hunting, fishing, because … the way that we live starts to change and we start to become dependent on grocery stores," said McKenzie. 

McKenzie is also worried about how this year's wildfires will impact salmon runs into Shuswap, which are important food sources and are of cultural significance to the Secwepemc Nation. 

River impacts affect salmon

Wildfires can impact watersheds, posing a threat to salmon populations, according to Jonathan Moore, a biology professor at Simon Fraser University and lead on the Salmon Watershed Lab. 

"Wildfires, especially severe wildfires, can have negative consequences to salmon populations," said Moore. 

One of the main impacts to salmon from wildfires, according to Moore, is the loss of trees along riverbanks that provided shade to rivers and creeks, leading to warmer water temperatures.

The other is an increase in sediment and mudslides into water systems that can smother eggs and change habitat. 

"Those are sort of large-scale, watershed-level changes that can erode the capacity of systems to be productive for salmon for a long time," said Moore. 

Surveying the watershed areas for risks to the salmon population would be the first step to knowing how fires in the Okanagan and Shuswap will affect salmon, said Moore. 

He said there is a need for government and First Nations leadership to talk about wildfire and forestry management to protect watersheds. 

"There is sort of our ability to control the trajectories of these watersheds even in the era of climate change, even in the era of wildfire," said Moore. 

Traditional medicines and foods affected

Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw, a community about 56 kilometres east of Kamloops, was also devastated by the Bush Creek East wildfire in August. 

Kukpi7 (Chief) James Tomma lost his home in the blaze, and several of his family members also lost their homes. 

Tomma said 34 structures were lost in the fire, displacing about 80 people of the approximate 350 community members. 

"[The fire] impacted a lot of places where people go for traditional harvesting [of] medicines and foods," said Tomma. 

Tomma said he comes from a family of hunters and gatherers, and hunting is part of keeping his people's culture and identity alive. 

"A lot of these places are gone and we'll probably not see a recovery during my lifetime," said Tomma. 

Tomma said it is heartbreaking to think about animals that weren't able to escape the wildfires, and that his community will have to wait and see how the fire will impact the salmon population.