Amid climate disasters wreaking havoc across Canada, an out-of-control fire forced the full evacuation of Fort Chipewyan. This remote community, which is home to the Athabasca Chipewyan, the Mikisew Cree, and the Fort Chip Métis, was also recently endangered by a leak of toxic industrial waste from one of Imperial Oil’s Alberta tarsands facilities. Indigenous peoples, such as the residents of Fort Chipewyan, are often on the front line of destruction but on the backbench of decision-making.
