Fire, Agency and Scale in the Creation of Aboriginal Cultural Landscapes

Abstract

Much recent literature explores controlled burning practices used by people of different cultures to manipulate landscapes. Because humans have only recently been able to suppress fires occurring at larger scales these studies focus on activities occurring at the scale of sites as making the greatest contribution to creating cultural landscapes. In this study we examine the role of fire in the construction of Anishinaabe cultural landscapes in the boreal forest of northwestern Ontario. Through our work with elders of Pikangikum First Nation we examined Anishinaabe knowledge and relationships to fire occurring across spatial and temporal scales. Pikangikum residents perceive forest fires as beings which possesses agency and who intentionally create order in landscapes. This notion suggests that cultural landscapes are more than the physical remains of the sum of human activities. The possibility of non-human agents having a role in the creation of meaningful spaces prompts us to call for a reassessment both of the scale of inquiry and the nature of cultural landscapes. We conclude with a discussion of the benefits and potential constraints to inclusion of indigenous cultural landscapes in current co-management arrangements.

Fire regime in a Mexican forest under indigenous resource management

“…While our survey with Pino Gordo fire users does provide an overview of some of the ways they continue to use it as a land management tool, our understanding of how they relate to fire and their management preferences remains rudimentary. Insiders' understandings of the ideal role for fire in maintaining land health, indigenous institutions for its use, and indicators for its successful use may not be transparent to a cultural outsider (Miller and Davidson-Hunt 2010). These understandings, while outside the scope of the current work, will be important for crafting a cooperative management regime for Pino Gordo that both protects this important ecological learning opportunity while respecting local peoples' culture and aspirations.…”

Talking about fire: Pikangikum First Nation elders guiding fire management

“…In this section, we provide only a brief overview of this information as more detail can be found in Miller and Davidson-Hunt (2010). The knowledge that we documented includes Anishinaabe terminology and concepts indicative of empirical and theoretical knowledge of fire behaviour and processes, as well as Pikangikum history and oral traditions, all of which informs elders' perspectives on fire management.…”

“…[Elder Whitehead Moose, community meeting, 10 July 2006] People in Pikangikum maintain knowledge of many different kinds of fire and their behaviours and impacts on forest renewal. Elders have described and named fires that burn under the soil surface, those that burn the ground surface, those that burn up and down hill, crown fires, and superficial surface burns (Miller and Davidson-Hunt 2010). They describe how many of these fires are effectively suppressed and act as signals for fire fighters that a fire is becoming dangerously out of control.…”

Linking well-being with cultural revitalization for greater cognitive justice in conservation: lessons from Venezuela in Canaima National Park

“…As in the case of other indigenous people, such as the aborigines of Kakadu National Park in Australia (Lewis 1989), Pemon use fire to "clean" the landscape and to make it look "beautiful." Also, like other indigenous peoples living in similar environments (Lewis 1989, Fairhead and Leach 1996, Mbow et al 2000, Laris 2002, Moore et al 2002, Mistry et al 2005, McGregor et al 2010, Miller and Davidson-Hunt 2010, Rodriguez et al 2011, the Pemon use a prescribed burning system that involves setting grassland fires during certain times of the year in order to reduce fuel accumulation and thus prevent large, destructive forest fires. Thus, a reduction in the use of fire is perceived by the Pemon as a threat since it may lead to the accumulation of flammable biomass (Rodriguez 2007).…”