'I have to do it': Midwest Indigenous crew in California to fight wildfires on native land
The team includes people from tribes in Minnesota and Wisconsin
People from around the country, including some Minnesotans and Wisconsinites, are answering the call for help as more than 4,900 wildfires rage in California.
In the Shasta Trinity National Forest in northern California is a fire crew comprised of members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Midwest Region. The 20-person team includes people from White Earth, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs and Bois Fortes tribes in Minnesota and the Menominee tribe of Wisconsin. They’ve been in California since Aug. 19, assigned to a wildfire at the South Fork Complex.
It’s the first all-tribal Type 2 Initial Attack crew to deploy from the Midwest region, according to the Minnesota Incident Command System.
Robert Gotchie of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is a fire management officer and the boss of the crew in California. He was a guest on Morning Edition and said morale is good, despite the hard work on the front lines.
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“We get up and do our morning brief. And then we head out and try to work as a whole team, as one big family on one fire and try to make things happen,” Gotchie said. “People I’ve never even met.”
His crew, though, is full of familiar faces, and has been in the works for a while.
“I’ve always had dreams that one day that the BIA could send out a crew just from Minnesota, or just from the Midwest region. And this happened to come about and we started talking about start seeing if we could really pull it off,” Gotchie reflected. “And here we are on day 11. And we are all here working as a team.”
Gotchie said shifting winds strengthened flames Tuesday. The fire his crew is battling is about 3,275 acres and 31 percent contained. The safety of his crew is a top priority.
The National Weather Service issued northern California’s first fire watch of the year on Monday. Utilities shut off power Wednesday morning because of the high risk for wildfire. Four people have died, three of whom were firefighters, according to the state.
Gotchie grew up in a village called Ball Club on the Leech Lake Reservation. He said he’s been working with fire since childhood, unaware at first that it was for prescribed burns. But then as he grew older, Gotchie said he jumped into firefighting, as it felt natural, which eventually took him to California.
“To me, I feel like it’s traditionally a responsibility for me to come out here and protect the lands,” Gotchie said. “At one time, this was all native land. So I feel like it’s my right to do that — I have to do it.”