By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Natural Resources Department supported by the Eastern Cherokee Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Nature Conservancy held a National Wildlife Coordinating Group FFT2 wildland fire training recently with an eco-cultural focus to build tribal workforce development and produce community fire practitioners and wildland firefighters.
31 participants, including 29 EBCI members, completed the week-long training. The week kicked off with a Community Fire Day at Kituwah, where cultural specialists shared the history and significance of fire in Cherokee culture. “The Community Fire Day was about rekindling those relationships with knowledge and understanding our life ways with fire and landscape; Re-indigenizing the way fire is administered, and just learning how that kind of collective of people coming together can be utilized and incorporated into some of the past frameworks of training and fire ecology,” said Tommy Cabe, EBCI forest resource specialist.
Beau Carroll, lead tribal archeologist for the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, gives a presentation at the Community Fire Training event that was held at the Peaches Squirrell Sports & Recreation Complex in Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) in Cherokee, N.C. on the morning of Oct. 27. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photo)
The Community Fire Day, and the rest of the training week, included collaborations and presentations from the EBCI Earth Keepers, the Kituwah Preservation Education Program, the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, Atsila Anotasgi Cultural Specialists, Mother Town Program, Levi West, Tara McCoy, Atsei Cooper, EBCI Fire and Rescue, the Nature Conservancy, the Center for Native Health, the Cultural Fire Management Council, the Eastern Cherokee BIA Fuels Crew, and the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network.
Evan-Marie Petit, fire prevention specialist for the BIA Eastern Cherokee agency, said “This created a powerful blend of cultural revitalization and fire management skills. This sets a precedent for East Coast tribes. To my knowledge, this is the first Tribal led training with a cultural emphasis on the East Coast and that is a big accomplishment.”
Josh Parris, EBCI forestry manager, said he hopes for more trainings in the future. “From a workforce development perspective, it’s an excellent opportunity. I really appreciate the fact that this is kind of coalescing, and that the state of BIA Fire here at the Cherokee Agency now is really conducive to us working together and having a common goal, which is to get work done and to bring more people in.”
Logan Blankenship, Tsalagi Fuels Module, is excited about a growing workforce, “Me and Gabe [McMillan], were brought in as AD firefighters. I’ve been a big voice in getting our AD program back, so that’s cool to see. I grew up around this, so I knew this was a career option for me, but not a lot of other kids know about it. It’s about giving them new opportunities and empowering our youth.”
