NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: South Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, traditional knowledge, forest fire, fire ecology, fire history

Objective(s): To record, preserve and share the knowledge, values, experience and techniques used by former Aboriginal firefighters who worked on fire crews based out of Ft. Smith NT.

Project Description: The objective is to carry out research that records, preserves and shares the knowledge, values, experience and techniques used by former Aboriginal firefighters who worked on fire crews based out of Fort Smith NT. They have years of accumulated experience fighting fire in the NT, Wood Buffalo National Park and northern Alberta. The research team aim to use Indigenous and community-based research methods in a manner that, through relationship, respects the participants, their knowledge, and their capacity. While Western science based research on forest and fire ecology has been carried out in the region, no research on the firefighters experience and views has been carried out. A request for this research was initiated by Fort Smith firefighters to contribute to this renewed discussion and to preserve their knowledge so that young people will know how they fought fire and may use their knowledge in the future, a responsibility for the land they wish to pass on. The research team will use a community-based participatory (CBPR) approach to research. CBPR is not a method but a way of thinking about and carrying out research. Given the frequent mistrust in earlier biological and science-based research by potential participants, who often felt their own knowledge and knowledge holders were not sufficiently respected this is an essential approach. With this background research has to proceed relationally, carefully and slowly in order to produce meaningful results. The team will aim to increase the trustworthiness of research relations and of research results by involving community representatives, not just as research subjects, but in all aspects of the research process. A CBPR approach aims to equalize power, relationships and involves community members in every aspect of the research. In this case, the community is a subgroup of the larger Aboriginal community. It is the community of former firefighters, a community of shared knowledge, identity and pride. The team expect research methods will include story-telling groups, focus groups, involvement in community activities (participant-observation) and individual interviews. Firefighters’ who choose to participate, may do so as much or as little as they want; some may choose to be part of just one activity while others will wish to be involved in several. The team anticipate development of a small research team (6-8 members) to guide the work. The research team will hold periodic meetings with the larger group of participants to discuss ongoing progress and get their feedback. The research team will also keep Aboriginal organizations informed throughout in whatever way they wish. The request for research to explore the experience, knowledge and methods of former Aboriginal forest firefighters, came from within the community - the community of identity as Aboriginal firefighters from Fort Smith, NT. The research project provides an opportunity to share the oral history of these men and women and the traditional values, experience and techniques they relied on. The results will be useful to the community in several ways: it will preserve the knowledge and honour the work of former First Nations and Metis firefighters and, also, will add to the knowledge-base available for youth and future firefighters in this and other boreal forest communities. The research team intend to use a model that fully respects local ways of sharing knowledge and provides research results in forms that are useful to the community. Participants will be involved in assessing results and the results will be discussed in community settings, including on an ongoing basis with active participants, regular briefings with supporting organizations, by setting up tents and booths at community events, through informal coffee shop discussions and through presentations on the results at community venues in Fort Smith, to Aboriginal organizations, at Aurora College campuses, and hopefully, at the Northern Life Museum (Fort Smith) and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Association (Yellowknife). The research team will produce summaries, reports and articles and also hope to produce material suitable for educational and training settings. As well, the team intend to find a partner to produce a children's book on how youth learned firefighting techniques and knowledge from experienced forest fighters. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 8, 2017 to December 31, 2017.