Situating Indigenous knowledge for resilience in fire-dependent social-ecological systems

Copes‐Gerbitz, Kelsey; Hagerman, Shannon; Daniels, Lori D.

doi:10.5751/es-12757-260425

Cited by 22 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Contrary to many perceptions, Indigenous fire stewardship is not something of the past, but is a dynamic knowledge system that adapts to changing environmental conditions (PAGC 2018;Thomassin et al 2019). Although government agencies are showing increased interest in cultural burning, it is important to note that Indigenous knowledge is built on relationships and experience, embodied in practice and embedded in language and land (Ignace et al 2016;Copes-Gerbitz et al 2021). Huffman (2013;p.…”

Section: Barrier 1: Perceptions Authority and Jurisdictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The right to burn: barriers and opportunities for Indigenous-led fire stewardship in Canada

Hoffman

Christianson

Dickson-Hoyle

et al. 2022

FACETS

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Indigenous fire stewardship enhances ecosystem diversity, assists with the management of complex resources, and reduces wildfire risk by lessening fuel loads. Although Indigenous Peoples have maintained fire stewardship practices for millennia and continue to be keepers of fire knowledge, significant barriers exist for re-engaging in cultural burning. Indigenous communities in Canada have unique vulnerabilities to large and high-intensity wildfires as they are predominately located in remote, forested regions and lack financial support at federal and provincial levels to mitigate wildfire risk. Therefore, it is critical to uphold Indigenous expertise in leading effective and socially just fire stewardship. In this perspective, we demonstrate the benefits of cultural burning and identify five key barriers to advancing Indigenous fire stewardship in Canada. We also provide calls to action to assist with reducing preconceptions and misinformation and focus on creating space and respect for different knowledges and experiences. Despite growing concerns over wildfire risk and agency-stated intentions to establish Indigenous Peoples as partners in wildfire management, power imbalances still exist. The future and coexistence with fire in Canada needs to be a shared responsibility and led by Indigenous Peoples within their territories.

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Section: Barrier 1: Perceptions Authority and Jurisdictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The right to burn: barriers and opportunities for Indigenous-led fire stewardship in Canada

Hoffman

Christianson

Dickson-Hoyle

et al. 2022

FACETS

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“…Indigenous and non-Indigenous place-based societies, such as traditional fire practitioners in Europe and elsewhere, have used fire to safeguard communities, promote desired resources, and support cultural lifeways for centuries to millennia (37,49,(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72). Working together, scientists from diverse cultural perspectives can co-define resilience across ecocultural landscapes (73), using this knowledge to identify perspectives of resilience to wildfire (72,74). Our fire science community needs to work with diverse communities to determine what is valuable, generating needed information on risk scenarios and potential resilience pathways in the face of a changing climate, while upholding data principles that respect Tribal sovereignty and intellectual property (75).…”

Section: Fire Is An Intrinsic Part Of What Makes Humans Human Such Th...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reimagine fire science for the anthropocene

et al. 2022

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Fire is an integral component of ecosystems globally and a tool that humans have harnessed for millennia. Altered fire regimes are a fundamental cause and consequence of global change, impacting people and the biophysical systems on which they depend. As part of the newly emerging Anthropocene, marked by human-caused climate change and radical changes to ecosystems, fire danger is increasing, and fires are having increasingly devastating impacts on human health, infrastructure, and ecosystem services. Increasing fire danger is a vexing problem that requires deep transdisciplinary, trans-sector, and inclusive partnerships to address. Here, we outline barriers and opportunities in the next generation of fire science and provide guidance for investment in future research. We synthesize insights needed to better address the long-standing challenges of innovation across disciplines to (i) promote coordinated research efforts; (ii) embrace different ways of knowing and knowledge generation; (iii) promote exploration of fundamental science; (iv) capitalize on the “firehose” of data for societal benefit; and (v) integrate human and natural systems into models across multiple scales. Fire science is thus at a critical transitional moment. We need to shift from observation and modeled representations of varying components of climate, people, vegetation, and fire to more integrative and predictive approaches that support pathways towards mitigating and adapting to our increasingly flammable world, including the utilization of fire for human safety and benefit. Only through overcoming institutional silos and accessing knowledge across diverse communities can we effectively undertake research that improves outcomes in our more fiery future.

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“…The frequent use of intentional fire adjacent to village sites is a known practice in dry forest ecosystems and across the larger the Secwépemc traditional territory (Ignace et al, 2016;Lake & Christianson, 2019;Turner et al, 2000). However, low-severity fire plots are also found in locations that were not previously identified as areas of high occupation, as recorded by the BC Archaeology Branch (W. Spearing, personal communication) or described by the T'exelc Elders (Copes-Gerbitz et al, 2021). The distribution of these low-severity fire plots beyond areas of known high occupation may be explained by several, not mutually exclusive, hypotheses:…”

Section: Indigenous Contribution To the Mixed-severity Fire Regimementioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of Indigenous stewardship to an historical mixed‐severity fire regime in British Columbia, Canada

Copes‐Gerbitz

Daniels

Hagerman

2022

Ecological Applications

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Indigenous land stewardship and mixed‐severity fire regimes both promote landscape heterogeneity, and the relationship between them is an emerging area of research. In our study, we reconstructed the historical fire regime of Ne Sextsine, a 5900‐ha dry, Douglas fir–dominated forest in the traditional territory of the T'exelc (Williams Lake First Nation) in British Columbia, Canada. Between 1550 and 1982 CE, we found median fire intervals of 18 years at the plot level and 4 years at the study‐site level. Ne Sextsine was characterized by an historical mixed‐severity fire regime, dominated by frequent, low‐severity fires as indicated by fire scars, with infrequent, mixed‐severity fires indicated by cohorts. Differentiating low‐ from mixed‐severity plots over time was key to understanding the drivers of the fire regime at Ne Sextsine. Low‐severity plots were coincident with areas of highest use by the T'exelc, including winter village sites, summer fishing camps, and travel corridors. The high fire frequency in low‐severity plots ceased in the 1870s, following the smallpox epidemic, the forced relocation of Indigenous peoples into small reserves, and the prohibition of Indigenous burning. In contrast, the mixed‐severity plots were coincident with areas where forest resources, such as deer or certain berry species, were important. The high fire frequency in the mixed‐severity plots continued until the 1920s when industrial‐scale grazing and logging began, facilitated by the establishment of a nearby railway. T'exelc oral histories and archeological evidence at Ne Sextsine speak to varied land stewardship, reflected in the spatiotemporal complexity of low‐ and mixed‐severity fire plots. Across Ne Sextsine, 63% of cohorts established and persisted in the absence of fire after colonial impacts beginning in the 1860s, resulting in a dense, homogeneous landscape that no longer supports T'exelc values and is more likely to burn at uncharacteristic high severities. This nuanced understanding of the Indigenous contribution to a mixed‐severity fire regime is critical for advancing proactive fire mitigation that is ecoculturally relevant and guided by Indigenous expertise.

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Situating Indigenous knowledge for resilience in fire-dependent social-ecological systems

Cited by 22 publications

References 56 publications

The right to burn: barriers and opportunities for Indigenous-led fire stewardship in Canada

The right to burn: barriers and opportunities for Indigenous-led fire stewardship in Canada

Reimagine fire science for the anthropocene

The contribution of Indigenous stewardship to an historical mixed‐severity fire regime in British Columbia, Canada

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