Today the skies are blue again in Indiana.
An expert said that climate change was one reason why the Canadian forest fires are so many. But the reason they are so fierce is, they haven’t been tended. I blame that on the Canadian provincial governments. It is they who have first contact with the First Nations of Canada. (In my opinion, First Nations actually own Canada. The name Canada is from the Huron word for village, ‘kanata’.)
The expert said there was so much undergrowth it becomes entangled and as it grows it also dies leaving tinder to kindle a’blaze when a finger of lightning touches down. It is the job of the provinces to take care of their property.
They claimed it by royal proclamation which said Indigenous People had no rights. It was robbery of the highest order. Gigantic provincial parks which were once shared by the Iroquois and Algonquin were stolen in the name of the crown; thousands of years of cultural traditions be damned.
And now those stolen acres are burning because the government couldn’t or wouldn’t take care of them.
Since the late ‘90s at least, the provincial governments have been ceding more rights to the Indigenous nations. (Paid subscribers see Indigenous land back strategy in Ontario below.) That process needs to accelerate.
Tending the forest is a labor intensive thing to do. As of yesterday, June 7th, the many fires burning all over Canada amounted collectively to the land mass of the state of Maryland. Think of all the land in your state. That’s a lot of bush to clear. It’s a year-round job and once started must be continuous.
Would the tribes be willing to take on the responsibility? They are the answer.
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