California dream for Far North First Nations firies
WHEN she was presented with the chance to travel to the USA to share in a technical and cultural exchange, Kylie Clubb’s response was blunt.
“Come off the grass,” she remembered saying.
Now, two First Nations Rural Fire Service members have returned to Far North Queensland after 12 days of camping in the rural Klamath Mountains in California as part of the Women in Fire Training Exchange (WTREX) with a sense of empowerment and excitement.
This year, for the first time, the exchange has focused on Indigenous women and cultural burning practices.
Kylie Clubb, a First Nations volunteer with Tinaroo Rural fire Brigade said she was completely shocked by the offer to travel to California.
“It was really crazy, I never thought that I’d get a chance to go to California on an opportunity like this, but I did have to ask what could kill me out there,” she said.
The exchange consisted of Indigenous women from four nations and allowed them to connect through their shared connection to their lands.
“It was such an honour to share in the cross-pollination of knowledge about the ways our different landscapes react to fire.”
Chloe Swiney is a First Nations Bushfire Safety Officer from the Far Northern Region Rural Fire Service and she was taken aback by how sharing her culture assisted others.
“It was all pretty eye opening, we were able to share our experiences of cultural burning to assist them with their first cultural burn on their land in over 200 years,” she said.
“It was quite emotional.”
The exchange strives to conquer challenges that women face in the world of wildland firefighting, natural resources management and conservation.
The attendees were hosted by the local Karuk tribe and during the 12 days took part in several cultural burns and prescribed fires across a variety of ecosystems and fuel types.
The program aims to push women to display courage, tenacity, integrity, and resilience while gathering proficiency in a number of roles with the aim of supporting them to work in leadership roles.