ABSTRACT

Using a qualitative community-based research approach, this study examined the role of family, social support and place attachment during a wildfire evacuation of Indigenous residents in remote Northern Ontario. A total of 56 interviews and two focus group discussions were completed with evacuated band members, those who stayed behind, and people who had a management role during the evacuation. In order to obtain diverse perspectives, two focus groups were conducted with different groups, the first with councillors and elders and the second with youths. The results from the interviews and the focus groups illustrated that evacuation experiences of residents were affected by a range of factors, which overall compromised the resilience of the community to the disruptive impacts of the evacuation. More specifically, the study has shown that scattering residents to twelve hosting communities throughout Ontario and Manitoba caused four major problems: communication and information-sharing were more difficult, families were separated, community cohesion and support services were disrupted, and residents’ sense of place attachment was impacted. These findings contribute to a robust understanding of the social and cultural factors influencing wildfire evacuation experiences of Indigenous people and how these influence the ability of residents to cope with or adapt to evacuation-related disruptions. Evacuation planning that takes into account the unique socio-cultural characteristics and vulnerabilities of First Nations can minimise the adverse consequences of hazard evacuations and enhance resilience in the face of disruptions.

摘要

本研究使用定性的基于社区的研究方法，研究了安大略省北部偏远地区原住民野火疏散期间家庭，社会支持和场所依恋的作用。与撤离的乐队成员，留在后面的人员以及在疏散期间担任管理人员的人员总共完成了56次访谈和两次焦点小组讨论。为了获得不同的观点，两个焦点小组由不同的小组组成，第一个小组与议员和长者一起，第二个小组与青年人一起。访谈和焦点小组的调查结果表明，居民的疏散经历受到多种因素的影响，这些因素总体上损害了社区的抵御能力，使其无法适应疏散的破坏性影响。进一步来说，该研究表明，将居民分散到安大略省和曼尼托巴省的十二个收容社区造成了四个主要问题：沟通和信息共享更加困难，家庭分离，社区凝聚力和支持服务受到破坏，以及居民的居住依恋感受到影响。这些发现有助于对影响土著人野火疏散经历的社会和文化因素，以及这些因素如何影响居民应对或适应与疏散相关的破坏的能力有深刻的了解。考虑到原住民独特的社会文化特征和脆弱性的疏散计划可以最大程度地减少撤离危害的不利后果，并在遇到破坏时提高应变能力。