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Living under the threat of forest fires in Mistissini

It was interesting to watch events unfold in Mistissini as the forest fires threatened the community in June.

I recently visited my family up north. Within the first few days of arriving, a forest fire threatened the community. It sent Mistissini into “Alert Mode” –meaning get ready in case of an evacuation order.

I spent my two weeks at home watching helicopters come and go. Smoke got thicker and thinner depending on the winds that day. It was hard to keep calm, but seeing community members adding laughter to any situa- tion eased some of the stress that came with the alert.

I ended up having to leave Mistissini for my own health. As hard as it was to leave my family during a time like this, separation anxiety really had its hold on me. Anxiety that I know a lot of families had to go through. Not just in Mistissini, but among our neighbours too.

While Mistissini did not immediately need to evacuate, we watched people from Chibougamau, Ouje-Bougoumou, Waswanipi and Chapais flee their homes. It was touching to see so many of our Quebec neighbours opening their homes to make room for our people to rest and wait out the fires. All the help going to the evacuees certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

Mistissini was under no imminent threat at the time, but Premier Legault must have thought otherwise when he grouped us with the rest of our neighbours. This created an unnerving day with people gassing up and panic buying. It reminded me of the toilet-paper crisis during the first Covid lockdown.

If it wasn’t for Chief Michael Petawabano, I think we would’ve remained in panic mode. The grace with which I watched this man work must have made a lot of community members happy to have elected him. If I get the chance to meet him, I’ll thank him for taking care of us during the forest fires of 2023.

It’s hard to think that with global warming this will become a norm for a lot of countries. Forest fires will have their own seasons and more and more people will be needed to become forest firefighters to combat them.

A lot of tension came with the Canadian Armed Forces being stationed at the high school in Mistissini. People couldn’t understand that the army is not only being trained for wars but for the situations created by global warming. I remember several years ago when soldiers were stationed near Ottawa to help with the floods. It is comforting to know that Canadian service people are being trained to take global warming seriously.

I spent my two weeks in Mistissini trying to get my eight hours of sleep every day, which was hard. I always had to look out my window before and after bed. Then I would wake up and check the Mistissini Facebook page to see if it was time to evacuate. If not, then I continued trying to keep myself busy despite the nerve-wracking reality outside.

It was interesting to see Chibougamau so empty. People in Mistissini made land-back jokes that even Chibougamau folks enjoyed.

I’ll never get over someone saying, “I’ll take over Coq Rôti and name it Nisk Roti.” Or someone else saying he’d “take over the Indian Friendship Centre and change it to the Cowboy Friendship Centre.” That was the comic relief everyone needed. Although Mistissini was in a tough situation, people always made room for humour.

After I returned to Montreal, the Mistissini Clinic called to tell me to evacuate. I realized that a full evacuation was coming. Then it happened. Many families were dispersed throughout Quebec waiting for the okay to return.

After a few days passed and the population of Mistissini fell to 60. These were people who I saw working hard in case of the worst-case scenario. I felt I couldn’t move without checking in on them. As usual, they were in good spirits and ready for anything.

Then I received a live video of my hometown covered in rain. Miigwetch Chimendou is all I could say as I cried. May we have more rain so that our emergency workers can rest with their families – so the celebrations of walking-out ceremonies and weddings can start taking place again. Miigwetch to our volunteers and emergency workers for taking care of our homes and our dogs – as well as to those taking care of our evacuees.

As I write, I learned that the evacuation has been lifted in Mistissini. Many families will be reunited and that brings me so much joy after what felt like an eternity of praying for rain. I’m not sure when my next visit to Mistissini will be, but I hope this time I’ll have time to see more of my loved ones.

Here’s another edition of the Nation’s puzzle page. Try your hand at Sudoku or Str8ts or our Crossword, or better yet, solve all three and send us a photo!* As always, the answers from last issue are here for you to check your work. Happy hunting.

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