IndigiNews: In the midst of a destructive wildfire season, Sinixt experts point to the benefits of cultural burns
... With destructive wildfires impacting communities
across Turtle Island, Sinixt knowledge-keepers say policies preventing
Indigenous-controlled burns are largely to blame and must be dismantled.
Throughout
colonization, European settlers have waged war on fire — and
criminalized Indigenous communities who’ve used it for millennia to
enhance their lands.
“Fire is not the enemy,” said Janessa Esquivel, a non-binary sn̓ʕaýckstx (Sinixt) and sənpʕʷilx (San Poil) person. “Fires
are part of the ecosystem, of our cultural ecosystems. If Indigenous
people were allowed to do what we’ve been doing forever, the fires today
wouldn’t look the same" ...
CLICK HERE for the full story

Comments
Post a Comment