Peavine Métis Settlement FireSmart Program Many Indigenous communities are located in fire-prone forests where climate change is elevating wildfire risk (Christianson et al., 2014). FireSmart Canada works with federal, provincial, and territorial governments and organizations to increase community resilience to wildfires across Canada by implementing principles and best practices for wildfire prevention, mitigation, and preparedness (Christianson et al., 2012; ISC, 2019b; FireSmart Canada, 2020). Using both Indigenous knowledges and scientific information, community members learn and share information about forest, vegetation, and ecosystem management; traditional burning practices; fireguard and fuel break strategies and activities; protection of homes and community infrastructure; and first response, among other issues (Government of the Northwest Territories, 2010; Christianson et al., 2012; Environment and Natural Resources, 2015; Environment and Natural Resources, 2016; Dodd et al., 2018a; Dodd et al., 2018b). The Peavine Métis Settlement’s FireSmart Program involves conducting mitigation activities at residential and community levels. In addition to select, unique community projects, which occur twice annually, the program includes six ongoing activities (Christianson et al., 2012): • A lawn tractor program encourages residential lawn cutting. • Agriculture 50/50 supports the conversion of forest to agricultural land vegetation thinning. • The New Homes Program supports clearing and thinning vegetation from future building sites. • Fire breaks, or gaps, in vegetation are being installed to help slow or stop wildfire spread. • The Aboriginal Junior Forest Rangers crew assist with summer FireSmart projects such as vegetation management. • A volunteer fire department manages fires. Cultural norms and values influence a community’s perception and response to fire risk and mitigation (Christianson et al., 2014). For the Peavine Métis Settlement, these included the importance of assistance to community Elders, participation in subsistence activities on the land, traditional knowledge (TK), social relationships and support for community members, trust, pride in aesthetics, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and self-sufficiency. Each of these values is incorporated into some element of the community’s FireSmart Program (Christianson et al., 2012; Christianson et al., 2014).
Mental Health and WellBeing Climate change threatens the cultural dimensions of Indigenous Peoples’ lives and livelihoods that are central to identity, community cohesion, 24
and a sense of place and belonging (Adger et al., 2013). The impact of climate change on mental health and well-being can disproportionately burden some groups, including Indigenous women, children, and individuals from socio-economically
disadvantaged communities, as well as Elders, who can be deeply disturbed by the changes they are witnessing (FNMFNMES, 2016; Manning & Clayton, 2018). Since First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples have disproportionately higher rates of suicide, substance
