More than 600 people have been evacuated from two Saskatchewan First Nations due to wildfires north of Hudson Bay.
Red Earth Cree Nation and Shoal Lake Cree Nation are also calling on the province for more assistance to protect their ancestral land from the wildfires.
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On Monday, Red Earth Cree Nation said it evacuated approximately 200 priority one members to Regina and Saskatoon.
Shoal Lake Cree Nation evacuated 440 members and residents to Prince Albert on Sept. 30.
Shoal Lake Cree Nation Chief Marcel Head says calling for the evacuation was a last resort.
“But we need to keep the health, wellness, and safety of all our people front and centre,” he said.
“For the second time this summer, we are doing all that we possibly can to assure our people, and to give them some measure of comfort in a stressful situation.”
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As of Tuesday morning, 13 wildfires were burning in Saskatchewan, eight north of Hudson Bay.
Head said the fires pose a threat to their ancestral lands and resources and their economies depend on a healthy land base.
“We are communities that follow the Cree way of life and we continue to be based on a hunter-gatherer-based economy,” he said.
“If the province does not put more resources into fighting the wildfires, our communities will suffer from its impacts for years to come.”
The Saskatchewan Public Service Agency has deployed fire suppression crews and helicopters to battle the wildfires, but Chief Fabian Head of Red Earth Cree Nation said more needs to be done.
“Given both the short-term and long-term threats of the wildfires, we urge the government of Saskatchewan to act, and mobilize their available resources to enhance and expand the effort to extinguish the wildfires in our areas for the sake and safety of our people.”
Both Shoal Lake and Red Earth leaders have mobilized response and support measures to fight the wildfires and to secure homes, property and assets in the communities.
Prince Albert Grand Council’s Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management, the Canadian Red Cross, along with the federal and provincial emergency response measures agencies and city municipal support systems, are providing support to the evacuees.
