@article {bnh-8316, title = {Elephant Hill: Secw{\'e}pemc leadership and lessons learned from the collective story of wildfire recovery}, year = {2021}, month = {11/2021}, pages = {241}, institution = { Secwepemcúl ̓ ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society}, abstract = {

Worldwide, catastrophic wildfires and the ongoing climate crisis are catalyzing Indigenous peoples to re-assert jurisdiction to lands and waters by leading the recovery and restoration of their/our territories.

{\textquoteleft}Mega-fires{\textquoteright} are increasingly burning landscapes that have been degraded by over a century of colonial state-driven forest (mis)management and a paradigm {\textendash} and paradox {\textendash} of fire suppression. Simultaneously, many settler-colonial governments are stating their commitments to {\textquoteleft}reconciliation{\textquoteright} and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Together, these two trends point to the critical need to uphold Indigenous rights and stewardship systems through Indigenous-led transformation of forest and (wild)fire management.

These ecological and socio-political shifts provided the context for the 2017 {\textquoteleft}Elephant Hill{\textquoteright} wildfire in British Columbia (BC), Canada, which burned close to 200,000 hectares throughout Secwepemcúl ̓ ecw {\textendash} the traditional and unceded territory of the Secw{\'e}pemc Nation. In the immediate wake of this fire, and the significant and interconnected social, cultural, economic and ecological impacts that are still ongoing, affected Secw{\'e}pemc First Nations advocated for Secw{\'e}pemc leadership in the recovery and regeneration of their territories in the months, years and decades to come.

Supported by a newly-elected provincial government with a mandate to advance reconciliation, and a provincial review that recommended {\textquotedblleft}establish[ing] Indigenous Peoples as true partners and leaders in emergency management{\textquotedblright}, Secw{\'e}pemc communities partnered with the provincial government to forge a new collaborative approach to land-based wildfire recovery. The Elephant Hill wildfire, and the joint recovery process that followed, is the focus of this report. We draw on in-depth interviews with Secw{\'e}pemc elected leadership and staff from communities and the provincial government, as well as ongoing work and action research with the Secwepemcúlecw\ Restoration and Stewardship Society, to provide a detailed account of this example of contemporary Indigenous leadership in wildfire management and land-based recovery.

This study was framed by a number of broad questions:

To highlight these lessons and demonstrate the need for transformative change, the story of the Elephant Hill wildfire and the joint leadership approach to wildfire recovery is told in four Parts:

PART 1: THE ELEPHANT HILL WILDFIRE (CHAPTERS 1{\textendash}4)

An overview of the record-breaking 2017 wildfire season in British Columbia; the experiences and responses of Secw{\'e}pemc First Nations and government agencies; and the impacts of these wildfires on Secw{\'e}pemc territories and communities.

PART 2: THE PROCESS FOR JOINT WILDFIRE RECOVERY (CHAPTERS 5{\textendash}7)

Understanding the drivers for collaboration; the process of negotiating the scope and governance of joint wildfire recovery; and a summary of land-based recovery activities and outcomes on Elephant Hill.

PART 3: REFLECTIONS ON {\textquoteleft}SUCCESS{\textquoteright} AND LESSONS LEARNED (CHAPTERS 8{\textendash}10)

Diverse views of {\textquoteleft}success{\textquoteright} and identification of key strengths, challenges and unresolved tensions to inform future collaborations.

PART 4: BEYOND ELEPHANT HILL (CHAPTERS 11{\textendash}13)

Persistent barriers; Secw{\'e}pemc priorities for advancing equal partnerships and First Nations leadership in (wild)fire management; and Secw{\'e}pemc visions for recovery, restoration and stewardship throughout Secwepemcúlecw.

}, keywords = {collaboration, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous rights, leadership, reconciliation, stewardship, Wildfire, wildfire recovery}, isbn = {ISBN 978-1-7780135-1-5}, url = {https://www.srssociety.com/lessonslearned.htm}, author = {Sarah Dickson-Hoyle and Char John} } @article {bnh-8301, title = {Walking on two legs: a pathway of Indigenous restoration and reconciliation in fire-adapted landscapes}, journal = {Restoration Ecology}, year = {2021}, month = {09/2021}, abstract = {

Worldwide, Indigenous peoples are leading the revitalization of their/our cultures through the restoration of ecosystems in which they are embedded, including in response to increasing {\textquotedblleft}megafires.{\textquotedblright} Concurrently, growing Indigenous-led movements are calling for governments to implement Indigenous rights, titles and treaties, and many settler-colonial governments are committing to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and to implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Yet, despite growing recognition that just and effective conservation is only possible through partnerships with, or led by, Indigenous peoples, decolonizing approaches to restoration have received insufficient attention. However, reconciliation will be incomplete without Indigenous-led restoration of Indigenous lands, knowledges, and cultures. In this article, we introduce the concept of {\textquotedblleft}walking on two legs{\textquotedblright} to guide restoration scientists and practitioners in advancing the interconnected processes of Indigenous-led restoration and reconciliation in Indigenous territories. As an action-oriented framework articulated by Secw{\'e}pemc Elder Ronald E. Ignace, {\textquotedblleft}walking on two legs{\textquotedblright} seeks to bring Indigenous knowledges into balance with western scientific knowledge in service of upholding an Indigenous stewardship ethic that is embedded in Indigenous ways of relating to land and embodies principles of respect, reciprocity, and responsibility. Grounding this discussion in the context of fire-adapted ecosystems of western Canada and unceded and traditional Secw{\'e}pemc territory, Secwepemc{\'u}l̓ecw, we argue that walking on two legs, along with principles of reconciliation, offers a pathway to uphold respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples, knowledges, and territories through Indigenous-led restoration.

}, keywords = {ecocultural restoration, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous restoration, Indigenousfire stewardship, reconcilia-tion, Wildfire}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.13566}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/rec.13566}, author = {Sarah Dickson-Hoyle and Ronald Ignace and Marianne Ignace and Shannon Hagerman and Lori Daniels and Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz} } @article {bnh-7341, title = {A Culture of Burning: Social-Ecological Memory, Social Learning and Adaptation in Australian Volunteer Fire Brigades}, journal = {Society and Natural Resources}, year = {2020}, month = {09/2020}, abstract = {

While Australian government agencies are increasingly emphasizing the need to {\textquotedblleft}build community resilience{\textquotedblright} to bushfires, communities in many rural landscapes have a strong history of actively managing fire risk, in particular through involvement in volunteer fire brigades. This paper explores social-ecological memory, social learning, and adaptation in volunteer Country Fire Authority brigades in western Victoria, specifically in the context of planned burning of strategic roadside fire breaks. It examines the relationships between local knowledge, narratives and practices of burning and how these shape volunteer identities, embodying {\textquotedblleft}shared responsibility{\textquotedblright}. Findings show that participation in roadside burning is critical for supporting social learning and ongoing community engagement in fire management. However, changing land uses, social demographics and regulatory processes are negatively impacting local volunteer capacities. While brigades have responded by re-organizing their practices, questions remain as to what extent this constitutes adaptation or transformation connecting to broader landscape-level risk management.

}, keywords = {adaptation, Bushfire, community-based fire management, planned burning, resilience, volunteering}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2020.1819494}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08941920.2020.1819494}, author = {Sarah Dickson-Hoyle and Ruth Beilin and Karen Reid} }