Carrying the Fire: Indigenous Women Restoring the Land - Ep 1: Reignition Artwork

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Carrying the Fire: Indigenous Women Restoring the Land - Ep 1: Reignition

May 07, 2026 • FireSmart

0:00 | 33:41

Welcome to Carrying the Fire: Indigenous Women Restoring the Land, a three-part Get FireSmart Podcast series about Indigenous women and their efforts to restore “good fire” to both land and community.

In part one of this series, we meet Ashley O’Neil, an experienced firefighter, burn boss, and proud member of ʔaq̓am, a Ktunaxa Nation near Cranbrook, BC. In her conversation with host Jaci Gilbert of FNESS, she outlines how cultural burning knowledge was interrupted by law and policy, and how listening to Elders across Nations rebuilt a living practice. Ashley also reflects on the importance of trust between agencies and Nations, and how this trust could support a potential hands-on training program in which structural and wildland firefighters learn about the importance of prescribed fire and cultural burning together.

Links:

Learn more about Cultural Burning and Prescribed Fire: https://prescribedfire.ca/

Learn more about FireSmart BC: firesmartbc.ca

Watch FireSmart BC videos: https://www.youtube.com/@firesmartbc