Indigenous land-based camp as decolonizing forest-fire disaster adaptation pathways

This paper examines the impact of community-led land-based camps as a decolonial methodology for climate disaster adaptation in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta. Centering Cree and Dene-speaking communities, the study draws from intergenerational story-sharing, Elder-led story-sharing, and spiritual practices to examine how land-based knowledge and practice address forest fires, water disruptions, and biodiversity loss. The findings of this study show the strong interconnections between land, language, mental health, identity, and resilience. Land-based camps emerge as sites of survival, cultural knowledge, and educational sovereignty, countering colonial governance and extractive climate policies. Through experiential learning, Indigenous-led research, and community-defined ethics, the camps support climate justice grounded in relational accountability and knowledge sovereignty. This chapter calls for recognizing Indigenous land-based pedagogy not as supplemental but as foundational to reimagining disaster research and policy. It advocates for institutional shifts that prioritize Indigenous governance, spiritual continuity, and land as both method and knowledge system.