'It's just hard': Paddle Prairie residents begin to rebuild
Paige Parsons | CBC News | Posted: August 7, 2019 9:00 PM | Last Updated: August 7, 2019
Wildfire decimated traditional settlement land
Northern Alberta residents whose homes were destroyed by the Chuckegg Creek wildfire are beginning to rebuild.
The Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement lost 16 homes, leaving about 50 people homeless, when the massive fire swept through their traditional lands in late May.
By the time Alberta Wildfire declared the fire as "being held" on July 25, it had burned an area the size of Banff National Park, forcing the evacuation of thousands of northern residents.
A $3 million donation from the Métis Settlement General Council will cover the cost of replacing several modular homes, as well as construction of "stick-built" houses, according to president Herb Lehr.
The money for rebuilding comes out of the council's future fund, which Lehr said is meant to serve a similar purpose as the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.
It's not meant to be used for emergency relief, but his organization felt there was no alternative, he said.
"It was money that we came up with to take care of a disaster, generally because we couldn't get any money anywhere else," he said. "It would have been approximately 50 homeless people if we hadn't helped them."
He said the community is still trying to find funds to repair homes damaged, but not destroyed. He's hopeful other orders of government will step up.
Lehr said at least eight modular homes will be set up to allow families to return by the end of August.
Contractors are also expected to begin work on homes being rebuilt from scratch, Lehr said.
Angie Cardinal and her family are planning to rebuild, but said they are wading through red tape and are not sure when construction will begin.
She said they enlisted a contractor to rebuild for about $197,000. Cardinal said they did not have home insurance.
Cardinal thought she was doing okay after learning her home was gone, but returning to the settlement has been a challenge as her family grieves the loss of their "forever home," she said.
Sifting through the ashes, everything they could recover fit in a few small boxes, most of her daughter's tea-set and a few items that belong to her mother.
"Getting back here now, it's just hard. It's so different," Cardinal said.
For now, Cardinal's family is staying in a house owned by the local school district.
The family appreciates the support of the community and Alberta Health Services, she said.
Rebuilding and staying on the settlement is important to Cardinal, who said she wants her three children, between the ages of nine and 14, to grow up with a sense of culture and community, sheltered from the wider world.
"We don't have any desires to chase the money or chase wealth for our families. We stay together and like to do things together," she said.
"Paddle Prairie culture is just about helping each other. Forgiveness. Love."
Even though homes can be rebuilt, the community is struggling to deal with loss of traditional land, Lehr said.
The valuable forested land has long been protected, he said.
"Generation after generation, parents and grandparents have passed on the cultural knowledge of how to live with the land," Lehr said, explaining children are taught to find berries, medicines and where to hunt.
"That's what was destroyed and what no money can ever bring back," he said.