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B.C. Indigenous knowledge keeper says cultural burns prevent wildfires
“We let (our forests) get away. We let the disease take over. We let the insects and pine beetle take over and kill our forests” — Ron Tomma, Indigenous knowledge keeper
When he was a boy, Ron Tomma would leave after breakfast to run freely with his brother through their ancestral territory.
The brothers wouldn’t return home until dinner. But his mom knew the boys wouldn’t go hungry or thirsty. The land was a grocery store full of raspberry and huckleberry bushes. Pristine, drinkable streams ran like veins down the mountains to the lush valley.
Now, when Tomma hunts, he has to move carefully so he doesn’t trip or twist an ankle. Tomma, a knowledge keeper in his First Nation, has to push through undergrowth in a forest that was once as clear as hiking trails. Most of the berries are gone and the water is undrinkable. He blames the change on pesticide use by cattle ranchers and logging companies.
So, it was no surprise to him when the Bush Creek Fire tore through Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw, his First Nation about 70 kilometres from Kamloops. The wildfire destroyed 34 homes and 64 other structures. Scorched earth covered the region.
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