In the heat of the L.A. fires, Jeremiah Louis is reminded of 2021 when fire surrounded the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB), his home community.
“In the beginning, I was feeling helpless,” he said.
In the years leading up to the White Rock Lake wildfire, some members of the OKIB took it upon themselves to practise fire prevention with an Indigenous technique known as cultural burning around a cluster of homes each spring — and because of this, he says the homes were spared during the fire.
As of Tuesday afternoon, two major blazes in the Los Angeles area, the Palisades and Eaton fires, had destroyed more than 14,000 structures since breaking out during fierce winds on Jan. 7. At least 27 people have died.
Louis, the fire chief for the Takla Nation, and other Indigenous experts are hopeful that the devastating impact of the L.A. fires will prompt non-Indigenous governments to encourage cultural burning in their jurisdictions before wildfire season picks up in B.C.
Joey Gonzales, a Tataviam and Chumash model and actor from southern California, is one of the thousands of Indigenous people in California who watched their homeland burn.
“What’s really missing is the Indigenous perspective on these fires, knowing that they could have been prevented.”
Cultural burning is a traditional fire management practice that has been used by Indigenous peoples in Canada, the U.S. and around the world to eliminate fuel build-up that contributes to the intensity of wildfires and promotes the regrowth of native species that local Indigenous communities depend on.
Louis says that the method used for a cultural burn depends on the area. In a heavily forested area, there are some trees that benefit from burning. Grasslands are burned to reduce fuel and allow space for animals.
He says a cultural burn makes way for fresh, healthy grass for local wildlife to eat — a traditional food source which can then be harvested by local Indigenous populations.
First Nations in B.C. are in a race to protect themselves from wildfires, bringing back a tradition that had been banned for decades. CBC’s Brady Strachan was invited to the front line of a prescribed or cultural burn to learn more about how it’s done and why experts say other communities across Canada need to follow their example.
This is in contrast to prescribed burning, a controlled burn delivered by an agency such as B.C Wildfire or CAL Fire, with the primary focus being fire prevention and infrastructure protection.
Indigenous-led cultural burns focus on those areas, too, but are community-driven initiatives that also aim to achieve cultural objectives.
B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, which is in charge of the B.C. Wildfire Service, has promised to expand the use of cultural burning through partnerships with First Nations. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which B.C. is implementing, acknowledges Indigenous knowledge, cultures, and traditional practices that contribute to good environmental management.
Cultural and prescribed burns are “one of the most ecologically appropriate ways to achieve a variety of land stewardship objectives,” according to the B.C. Wildfire Service, which says it recognizes cultural burning and Indigenous cultural practices as “a crucial foundation for managing fire into the future.”
In 2024, the province amended the Wildfire Act to enable the wildfire service to assist First Nations and other partners with cultural and prescribed fire projects when requested.”
Former forest minister Doug Donaldson says B.C.’s target for prescribed and Indigenous cultural burns is about 5,000 hectares (50 square kilometres) per year.
Indigenous Knowledge
Leah Mata-Fragua’s tribe, the Chumash in Central Coast California, is one of few Indigenous groups in the state able to perform cultural burns.
California banned the practice in 1850, according to the University of California. That changed in 2022 with new legislation, but cultural burns are still heavily regulated.
Mata-Fragua says it’s important for those involved in disaster mitigation to acknowledge and encourage Indigenous practices because Indigenous peoples have been caring for those lands for thousands of years and understand the geography of their regions.
For example, she said, Indigenous people understand what plants are native or invasive to the area — and sometimes, those plants can help or hinder firefighting efforts.
“When people think of southern California . . . the iconic imagery is palm trees. Those aren’t from our area, right? Those were brought here,” she said.
“The eucalyptus trees were brought here. And those are two plants or trees that are highly combustible and added fuel to those fires … throughout California.”
More than just prevention
Mata-Fragua says that cultural burning has more purpose than fire prevention. Cultural burns are also used to propagate plants to increase seed production and enhance sustainability.
Additional benefts, according to Mata-Fragua, include the regrowth of native plants used to weave traditional baskets in California.
“If you’re a basket weaver, [after a cultural burn], the shoots come up super straight and healthy. So [cultural burning] is used for food waste and basketry.”
As B.C. wildfire fighters prepare for wildfire season, Mata-Fragua and Louis say they hope that communities see the value of cultural burns.
