Purpose of Review Indigenous perspectives have often been overlooked in fire management in North America. With a focus on the boreal region of North America, this paper provides a review of the existing literature documenting Indigenous voices and the historical relationship of Indigenous peoples in northern North America to fire and landscapes that burn. Recent Findings Early research on the topic explored how Indigenous people used fire in the boreal forest, with most research coming out of case studies in northern Alberta. Emerging research in the last two decades has broadened the geographic focus to include case studies in Alaska, Ontario, Labrador, and other regions in North America. This broadening of focus has shown that the diversity of Indigenous peoples in North America is reflected in a diversity of relationships to fire and landscapes that burn. Of note is an emerging interest in Indigenous fire knowledge in the wake of settler colonialism. Summary Indigenous peoples in the boreal forest have applied fire on their landscapes to fulfill numerous objectives for thousands of years. More than a tool, Indigenous peoples in the boreal view fire as an agent, capable of movement, destruction and creation, acting on the landscape to create order, within a living, connected environment. Unfortunately, restrictions on the application of Indigenous fire knowledge and practice initiated during early colonial times remains a contemporary challenge as well.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to highlight the experiences and issues of an overlooked demographic: older LGBTQ + adults in the US, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This allows the authors to explore possible changes in policy and practice regarding the management of the pandemic with attention to elderly LGBTQ.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on the authors’ experience in disaster research and a study of older LGBTQ + adults in the San Francisco Bay Area, the authors analyze key trends in COVID-19 pandemic management while drawing lessons from the AIDS epidemic.FindingsThe authors have found that LGBTQ + people, especially older and transgender individuals, have unique experiences with hazards and public safety and healthcare professionals and organizations (e.g. heteronormative care, traumatic insensitivity, deprioritizing essential treatments as elective). Second, older LGBTQ + adults' perceptions of state responses to pandemics were heavily influenced by experiences with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. And third, experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic have important implications for preventing, responding to and recovering from future epidemics/pandemics.Originality/valueThe authors point to two parallel implications of this work. The first entails novel approaches to queering disaster prevention, response and recovery. And the second is to connect the management of the COVID-19 pandemic to the principles of harm reduction developed by grassroots organizations to suggest new ways to think about contagion and organize physical distancing, while still socializing to take care of people’s physical and mental health, especially the more marginalized like elderly LGBTQ + people.

PurposeMy research is a study of forest fires that occurred near the Atikamekw community of Wemotaci (Quebec, Canada). This article focuses on the gendered aspects of two forest fire situations experienced by the people of Wemotaci, as I realized during fieldwork that men and women had different experiences and roles during the fires that did not seem to be valued the same. As a result, I decided to mobilize Indigenous feminist theories to understand the entanglement of multiple oppressions especially colonialism and the patriarchy in disaster situations.Design/methodology/approachI used interviews, participant observation and focus-groups during several stays in Wemotaci. I drew on methodologies developed by Indigenous researchers who aim to decolonize research. In this approach, I built respectful relationships with participants, conscious that I was part of the network I was studying.FindingsThis research reveals the importance in disaster research to adapt our methodology to the participants realities while factoring our positionality in. More specifically, I show how the use of an Indigenous feminist perspective allows me to understand how patriarchal-colonialism manifests during forest fire situations intertwined with traditional Atikamekw gender roles. This understanding makes it possible to see ways of managing and studying disasters that challenge systemic oppressions by rethinking the notion of vulnerability and making space for Indigenous people agency, knowledge and experiences.Originality/valueThe use of a feminist framework in this male-dominated field is still innovative, especially mobilizing a feminist approach that is consistent with the participants' realities while acknowledging the researcher's positionality which translate here in the use of Indigenous feminist theories.