Indigenous people fleeing wildfires face immense mental health burdens. Experts say they shouldn’t have to – CBC

Psychologists say more resources, better communications needed to provide supports to Indigenous evacuees

Jun 15, 2025

Jeewa Liske was four months pregnant in August 2023 when she had to flee wildfire smoke in Yellowknife and make a difficult 20-hour drive to safety.

“I was wanting to leave just ’cause it was so smoky and it was so hard to breathe,” Liske, now 23, recalled of the day the city issued an evacuation order. She said she was barely able to see the sides of the road as she and three friends drove to Edmonton.

When they arrived, Liske was torn between staying to be close to family in nearby Leduc, or living with her mother-in-law in Lkwungen territory on Vancouver Island. After about five days in Alberta, she flew to Victoria. Her anxiety was compounded by being separated from her spouse, a crew boss working to fight the fires in the Northwest Territories.

Leaving her home meant she also struggled to get prenatal checkups, which she said was stressful. “I was crying a lot. The hormones just made my emotions 10 times worse.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/wildfire-smoke-indigenous-communities-1.7559381