Fires Burning in the Tsilhqot'in

The Peter A. Allard School of Law Allard Research Commons Faculty Publications Allard Faculty Publications 2019 NAGWEDIẐK’AN GWANEŜ GANGU CH’INIDẐED GANEXWILAGH: The Fires Awakened Us: Tsilhqot’in Report on the 2017 Wildfires Jocelyn Stacey Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, [email protected] Crystal Verhaeghe Emma Feltes Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.allard.ubc.ca/fac_pubs Part of the Disaster Law Commons, and the Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law Commons Citation Details Jocelyn Stacey, Crystal Verhaeghe & Emma Feltes, "NAGWEDIẐK’AN GWANEŜ GANGU CH’INIDẐED GANEXWILAGH: The Fires Awakened Us: Tsilhqot’in Report on the 2017 Wildfires". This Commissioned Report or Study is brought to you for free and open access by the Allard Faculty Publications at Allard Research Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Allard Research Commons. NAGWEDIẐK’AN GWANEŜ GANGU CH’INIDẐED GANEXWILAGH The Fires Awakened Us TSILHQOT’in repoRT- 2017 WILDFIRES Verhaeghe | Feltes | Stacey Photograph by Grand Chief Ed John The catastrophic wildfires devastated British Columbia in 2017. The Tsilhqot’in communities, their territory and wildlife will take years to recover. Planning for the future of impending emergencies needed to happen yesterday. The wildfires swept through the Tsilhqot’in territory in the summer of 2017 and illuminated the issues that plague the inclusion of First Nation value systems in government-to- government relationships. In many ways the fires awakened the Tsilhqot’in people. (On the cover) Photograph by Riske Creek Resident TSILHQOT’IN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS A MESSAGE FROM TSILHQOT’in NatIONAL GOVERNMENT TRIBAL CHAIRMAN 6 INTRODUCTION 7 The Contention Over Inherent and Colonial Authority 8 Hazard Protection Measures in the Tsilhqot’in 10 CALLS TO ACTION 12 Infrastructure Requirements 12 Pre-Disaster Agreements 13 Prominent Tsilhqot’in Role & Capacity Development 14 Land-Based and Economic Stabilization Measures 16 Dedicated Financial Resources Through All Stages of Emergency Management 17 COMMUNITY SPECIFIC NEEDS 18 Tl’etinqox Government Office Specific Needs 18 Yunesit’in Government Office Specific Needs 18 Tl’esqox First Nation Specific Needs 19 Tsi Deldel First Nation Specific Needs 19 ?Esdilagh First Nation Government Specific Needs 20 Xeni Gwet’in First Nation Government Specific Needs 20 THE NATION EXPERIENCE Preparedness 21 Response 22 Support Through First-Hand Observations 26 Common Wildfire Experiences 30 Evacuations and the Tsilhqot’in 33 Recovery The Cumbersome Road to Recovery 35 Impacts to the Tsilhqot’in Peoples 37 Impacts to the Tsilhqot’in Land 38 Impacts to the Homes, Properties and Livelihoods 38 Advancing and Strengthening Relationships - A First Step 40 Taking Back Inherent Jurisdiction 40 TL’ETINQOX GOVERNMENT - Anaham First Nation 45 The Tl’etinqox Experience 46 Recovery, Over a Year Later 48 Reconciliation and Preparation 50 Tl’etinqox Best Practices 50 YUNESIT’IN GOVERNMENT - Stone First Nation 51 Friday July 7th, an Indication of What Was to Come 52 Wildfire Response 53 Firefighting By Yunesit’in Crews 53 Evacuation 57 Roadblocks 58 Decision-Making, Coordination and Communication 59 Recovery 60 Disaster Compensation 60 Rehabilitation 61 Other Community Impacts 62 Mental Health and Community Wellbeing 63 Mitigation and Preparedness 63 Infrastructure and Capacity 63 Yunesit’in Best Practices 64 TABLE OF CONTENTS TL’ESQOX FIRST NATION - Toosey First Nation 65 The Tl’esqox Experience 66 The Compounded Issues on the Land 69 Tl’esqox Best Practices 70 TSI DELDEL FIRST NATION - Redstone, Alexis Creek First Nation 71 The Tsi Deldel Experience 72 Where Experience Meets Local Knowledge, The Next Years 75 Tsi Deldel Best Practices 76 ?ESDILAGH FIRST NATION GOVERNMENT - Alexandria First Nation 77 The ?Esdilagh Experience 78 Continual Impacts From the Wildfires 80 ?Esdilagh Best Practices 81 XENI GWET’IN FIRST NATIONS GOVERNMENT - Nemiah Valley First Nation 82 The Long Road to the Title Lands 83 Transition of Lands Back into the Community Control 83 The Xeni Gwet’in Experience 84 Additional Issues in the Midst of the Wildfires 86 The Aftermath of the Wildfires 88 Xeni Gwet’in Best Practices 88 CONCLUSION 89 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES (Back Cover) APPENDICES APPENDIX A EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 91 Tsilhqot’in Nation in a State of Emergency 92 Tsilhqot’in Nation Inquiry Into the Wildfires 93 Perseverance Despite All Odds 96 APPENDIX B RECOGNIZING TSILHQOT’IN JURISDICTION IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 97 Pre-Disaster Agreements 99 Land Based and Economic Stabilization Measures 103 Dedicated Financial Resources 105 APPENDIX C TL’ETINQOX COMMUNITY HEALTH REVIEW 108 APPENDIX D LIST OF ACRONYMS 114 APPENDIX E METHODOLOGY 116 MAPS AND SIDEBAR Regional Cariboo Chilcotin Wildfire Activity Map (August 29, 2017) 7 Tsilhqot’in Caretaker Area Map 22 Summary of Legal Authority to Declare States of Emergency 24 Summary of Provincial Authority to Apprehend Children on Reserve 30 Tsilhqot’in & Southern Dakelh Moose LEH Closure 2017 42 Wildfire Fuel Assessment - Tl’etinqox 46 Wildfire Fuel Assessment - Yunesit’in 52 Wildfire Fuel Assessment - Tl’esqox 66 Wildfire Fuel Assessment - Tsi Deldel 72 Wildfire Fuel Assessment - ?Esdilagh 78 Plateau Wildfire in Proximity to ?Esdilagh Map (August 24, 2017) 80 Wildfire Fuel Assessment - Xeni Gwet’in 84 WILDFIRE TEAM Wildfire Team Authors Jody Nishima, Wildfire Project Lead Crystal Verhaeghe Negotiations & External Affairs – TNG Consultant – Emoda Design Jay Nelson, Executive Lead Emma Feltes Negotiations & External Affairs – TNG PhD Candidate, Anthropology – University of British Columbia Connie Jasper Health Hub Coordinator – TNG Dr. Jocelyn Stacey Luke Doxtator Assistant Professor – Peter A. Stewardship Manager – TNG Allard School of Law - University of British Columbia Sean Wiebe Lands & Resources Sub-Table Manager – Negotiations & External Affairs – TNG JP Laplante Mining, Oil and Gas Manager – TNG Jeremy Boyd Registered Professional Forester – TNG Dan Heaton Emergency Management Coordinator/Emergency Operations Lead – Westbank First Nation Robert W. Gray Fire Ecologist – R.W. Gray Consulting Ltd. ACKnowledgments Tsilhqot’in Citizens Catherine Lappe, Government of Canada ?Esdilagh First Nation Government Chuck Puchmayr, City of New Tl’esqox First Nation Westminster Tl’etinqox Government Elder William Myers - Translation Tsi DelDel First Nation Grand Chief Ed John, First Nations Summit Xeni Gwet’in First Nation Government Industry Representatives Yunesit’in Government Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction Tsilhqot’in National Government Support Team - Report Compilation Becky Row, Canadian Red Cross Vancouver Sun Cariboo Chilcotin Residents Williams Lake Tribune THE FIRES awaKENED US A Message From Tsilhqot’in National Government Tribal Chairman, Nitsil’in Joe Alphonse he way that us as First Nations people move through the world and Texperience the world is vastly different from non-First Nations. We have come from a history of being viewed as a burden - as something that needs to be changed and assimilated. The wildfires of 2017 demonstrated that this outdated historical perspective is still active in the way governments and organizations view and treat First Nations people. Our traditional, ecological and territorial knowledge of the Tsilhqot’in territory weaves an unbreakable thread through our generations for century upon century. Protecting our lands, food sources and homes from wildfire is nothing new to us. We always knew the time would come for a massive wildfire event – it was never a matter of if, but always a matter of when. When the 2017 wildfires hit, we knew we had a long battle ahead of us. We knew that this battle was not going to be on the land with wildfire – it was going to be in the administration office with the financial reports, in the homes with the families and in the boardrooms with outside organizations. In 2010, my community of Tl’etinqox was evacuated to a centre in Williams Lake where our people slept on cots, were provided non-traditional foods and were at times viewed with major distrust by local staff. Traumas from residential school resurfaced as our elders felt the effects of being forced from their homes. Tsilhqot’in leadership did not want to put their people through this again, nor were we going to allow our houses to burn as wildfire resources went to other areas. We knew we had the strength and knowledge to stay and fight the wildfires – so we stayed. Many of our members were trained and had years of experience working the front lines of wildfires for the provincial government. They protected our homes and our families from what would have been sure devastation. The report that we have produced is a mechanism to allow for a true reflection of the experience that we as Tsilhqot’in people endured. We hope this report can be used to improve emergency management in other First Nation communities while also maintaining their rightful jurisdiction to their lands, people and practices. Tsilhqot’in Report on the 2017 Wildfires 7 INTRODUCTION The 2017 wildfires broke all records in British Columbia as they burnt over 1.2 million hectares of land, reached suppression costs of $568 million dollars and forced a remarkable 65,000 people to evacuate. Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure announced a Provincial State of Emergency that lasted 70 days. In just the first 48 hours, 176 new wildfires started.1 However, the Chilcotin

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