Native homelands in Hawaii and Canada are on fire.

Local communities in Hawaii are left to organize on their own. Indigenous communities again have to escape historic wildfires in Canada.

Maui

The full scale of the damage in Maui is overwhelming. Major news coverage of the fires has been slow to catch up. The locals have been coordinating supply runs and distributions without any agency assistance in the immediate aftermath. Seeing the people piece together their communities to care for those who barely escaped the flames is such a powerful and sobering moment. An archive of digital fundraisers that have been verified is here:

Canada

Remote, isolated Indigenous communities again had to evacuate this summer as wildfires ripped through the forests in Canada. As many major news outlets and media talking heads played the blame game and complained about ash and air quality, elders and families made dangerous journeys by boat through toxic smoke.

Brandi Morin: On the ground with Indigenous communities fleeing a climate inferno

In May, roughly 2.7 million hectares of forest — an area equal to about five million football fields — were burned to the ground in Canada, said Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair at a press conference. Over the last 10 years, the average number of hectares burned in the same month was just 150,000.

“There’s a combination of the smoke, of the water coming up and having sticks in the water and travelling at night — it’s a concern for damage to your boat and could cause an emergency,” he says while visiting evacuees at a hotel in Fort McMurray.

Quintal directed his staff to focus on comforting the displaced, including whole families with children and elders who had made the eleventh-hour trip.

“We were there when families were pulling in,” says Quintal, his voice strained with emotion. “You try to put on a happy face. These kids, they’re afraid, you know, they’ve had to leave their homes, given they’re an isolated community. And we let them know that you’re safe here, we’re here to help you.”

Jimmy Shortman, 64, waits at the boat launch for Ginger, his German Shepard, and her six three-week-old puppies to be delivered by a peace officer. He fled his home in Fort Chip by boat along with his wife and granddaughter. His beloved dog was cared for by officials in Fort McKay while he escorted his family to a hotel in Fort McMurray.

One way to support the fight against the fires in Canada:

Most recent updates on the current Canada fires:

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