In the final episode of Season 1 of The Good Fire Podcast, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff sit down with Jay Mistry, who has been working with and doing research in South America with Indigenous peoples for years and has a great perspective on many of the issues we have discussed in season 1. We talk about the role of cultural fire in Brazil and Venezuela, indigenous lead fire programs, and the challenges with colonial governments and how we can start to shift the conversation.

In this episode of The Good Fire Podcast, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff sit down with Vanessa Cavanagh who shares her journey as an Aboriginal woman in cultural burning and firefighting. When most people imagine a firefighter they picture a man, women are still trying to shake the stigma of historical gender roles. Across the colonized world these gender roles have created a mold through which we all perceive and think about our world. Vanessa is trying to break that mold. Through her own life experiences climbing the ladder of the western fire model, as well as through her research, Vanessa has great perspective and insight into the importance of women in cultural fire.

In this episode of The Good Fire Podcast, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff talk with Frank Lake about how fire management should be done in consultation with Indigenous peoples and how it can benefit the land and the community. Frank Lake has spent a great deal of time contemplating the role of Indigenous people in fire management, and he has some great insight into how we can begin to change fire management for the benefit of all people. Wildfire management has long been the domain of colonial governments. Despite a rich history of living with, managing, and using fire as a tool since time immemorial, Indigenous people were not permitted to practice cultural fire and their knowledge was largely ignored. As a result, total fire suppression became the prominent policy. With the most active force of natural succession abruptly halted, Indigenous communities suffered as the land changed. Today, western society has recognized the ecological problem a lack of fire has created, however, the cultural impact has been largely ignored.

In this live episode recorded at the Interior Fire Keepers Workshop in Merritt BC, Canada, Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff speak with Pierre Krueger, a traditional fire-keeper and Penticton Indian Band Elder, who debriefs us about a cultural burn that was done at the workshop.

In this episode, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff talk with Don Hankins, President of the California Indian Water Commission, about the connection between fire and water. Cultural burning is important for many reasons, from berry production to habitat creation it promotes sustainable ecosystems and communities. Water is one giant part of that equation. What is the connection between fire and water? How can burning more or less often, higher or lower intensities, affect water quality and fish habitat? Don Hankins has studied these questions and has answers for us.

In this episode, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff speak with Fire Keeper Nklawa who provides insight to help people to better understand burning and it’s importance from a cultural perspective through stories.

In this episode, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff talk with Oliver Costello about re-invigorating the use of cultural burning by facilitating cultural learning pathways to fire and land management. For generations, authority over the land has been held firmly by colonial governments, despite that land being sustainably managed for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples.

This is the first of three Fire-Keeper stories we will release during the course of this podcast series. These stories consist of traditional knowledge and describe an understanding of fire that may be different from what some have come to understand. Indigenous people have a rich history of working with and understanding fire. In this episode, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff speak with Pierre Kruger who remembers a time when burning was common and has countless stories describing the lessons learned.

Cultural burning exists around the world. This week, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff spoke with Trent Nelson and Tim Kanoa about the huge forward strides they have taken to get cultural burning back on the landscape on the other side of the globe in Australia. They discuss the deep cultural ties to burning, what has been lost, and what can be gained by having it back on the land.