Wildfires threaten tribes’ health, income and cultural traditions

The Kaiser Canyon Fire, sparked by lightning in mid-July, destroyed 43 homes and about 100 outbuildings on the Colville Reservation in Washington, including the well-known 'rainbow house' belonging to Matilda Bob. Tribal leaders say roughly half of the destroyed homes had no insurance, either because residents couldn't afford it or the housing didn't qualify.

Across the state nearly 900,000 acres had burned by mid-September, the worst since 2015, with about 200,000 of those acres on the Colville Reservation alone between the Kaiser Canyon and Modrite fires. In Oregon, fires burned over 60,000 acres on the Warm Springs reservation and destroyed at least six homes.

Tribal officials describe compounding harms beyond property loss: lost timber income, disrupted food sources, power outages that spoiled hunted and gathered food, and health strain from smoke exposure among populations with already high rates of respiratory illness. A birth-support group on the Colville Reservation reported clients going into early labor during evacuations, and community leaders say the greatest immediate need is air purifiers.

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