When the land burns, where does home go?

In 2023, forest fires burned 4.5 million hectares in Quebec, more than the previous twenty years combined, according to SOPFEU. During the night of June 6 to 7, Chibougamau and the Cree community of Oujé-Bougoumou were evacuated to Roberval and Saguenay, where arenas, a CEGEP and a university opened their doors. On June 21, hundreds of Elders and vulnerable people from Mistissini were moved to Quebec City.

For the Crees of Eeyou Istchee, the land is not a backdrop. It is a pantry, a school, a place where knowledge is handed down. In Waswanipi, families saw traplines completely ravaged and dozens of camps destroyed, while only a small share of the camps on Cree territory were insured. Losses that are hard to put a number on: you cannot reimburse a trail that three generations have maintained.

The summer of 2023 also showed something else: towns opening their arenas, volunteers cooking for strangers, Cree governments organizing the reception of their Elders. Faced with a climate out of balance, solidarity between neighbours, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, becomes infrastructure as essential as firebreaks.