Long after the immediate threats of wildfire flames and smoke damage are dealt with, communities are left struggling to address long-term impacts. For Indigenous communities, these impacts are even more severe, a McMaster researcher warns.
“For many Indigenous communities, there is a deep cultural and practical connection to the land, which provides traditional foods and supports ways of life that have been sustained for generations,” explains Chelsea Gabel, professor in the Indigenous Studies Department and the Department of Health, Aging & Society and scientific director of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
“When wildfires burn through or threaten these lands, the losses extend far beyond what can be measured financially, affecting cultural practices, food security, and community health and well-being.”
These insights are emerging through the Rapid Response to Wildfires project to examine the impacts of wildfires on First Nations and Métis communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Led by Robert Henry (Métis), an associate professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, the project is identifying what communities need before, during and after wildfire evacuations to support recovery, rebuilding and future preparedness.
Conversations with people affected by wildfires highlight an often-overlooked reality: recovery from a wildfire does not begin and end with an evacuation order. For many evacuees, returning home is not a quick process.
“When we look at what happened last year in Saskatchewan and Manitoba for example, some residents have spent extended periods in temporary accommodations while waiting for housing and community infrastructure to recover,” says Henry. “Others have reported experiences of discrimination and racism while living away from their communities.”
Similar experiences have unfolded in Ontario, where members of several northern First Nations communities have spent months in Niagara Falls and other urban centres waiting for conditions to allow them to return home.
The disruption can affect almost every aspect of daily life. Children may miss school, medical appointments can become more difficult to attend, and families face uncertainty about their homes, possessions and even pets left behind during emergency evacuations.
These disruptions are often compounded by separation from lands that support cultural practices, traditional foods, hunting, fishing and gathering. Researchers say prolonged displacement can make it harder for families and Elders to share knowledge, language and traditions with younger generations.
“Taken together, these stresses can have significant impacts on mental, emotional and physical well-being,” says Gabel.
Among the stories emerging from the work are accounts of Elders struggling to navigate unfamiliar systems after being displaced from their communities. In one case, an Elder with mobility challenges spent hours trying to navigate accommodations after leaving their community, highlighting barriers that can arise when residents are displaced into unfamiliar urban systems.
For families evacuated over extended periods, changes to hotel policies and restricted access to recreational spaces created additional challenges for children and youth already coping with the stress of displacement.
“This research shows that communities need more than physical safety — they also need support for cultural practices, mental health, family connections and returning safely to their traditional lands,” says Gabel.
Researchers are also beginning to examine longer-term environmental and health effects.
“We are exploring issues such as post-wildfire water quality and how changes to local ecosystems affect plants, animals and other resources that communities depend on,” says Henry.
As wildfire seasons become more frequent and intense across Canada, the findings are helping governments, emergency planners and service providers better understand what Indigenous communities need before, during and after emergencies.
“Protecting people during an evacuation is essential,” says Gabel. “But recovery also means supporting connections to family, culture, community and the lands that sustain people. Those lessons can help strengthen responses for Indigenous communities and for all Canadians.”
The Rapid Response to Wildfires project is funded by the Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies (CRPPHE). CRPPHE invested $1.5 million to the National Coordinating Centre (NCC) of the Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR), the flagship initiative of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH).