As catastrophic wildfires continue to burn across eastern Washington, tribal nations are confronting yet another summer of fire-driven destruction that threatens homes, cultural resources, treaty-protected lands, and traditional food systems. At the same time, tribes are responding in a way that reflects a longstanding tradition of mutual aid—supporting one another while deploying their own firefighting expertise and emergency resources.
The fires, fueled by drought, extreme heat and high winds, have destroyed more than 700 structures, forced tens of thousands of evacuations, and prompted President Donald Trump to approve a federal emergency declaration for Washington. The declaration includes several tribal nations, recognizing the significant impacts on Indian Country.
Among the tribes included in the emergency declaration are the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Spokane Tribe of Indians, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
For these tribes, the consequences extend well beyond burned buildings.
Wildfires threaten culturally important plants used for food and medicine, destroy wildlife habitat relied upon for subsistence hunting, damage timber resources that support tribal economies, and scar landscapes that hold generations of cultural and spiritual significance. Smoke also creates serious health risks for elders, children and people with respiratory illnesses.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation have once again found themselves on the front lines. The Kaiser Canyon Fire has burned across more than 120,000 acres near the reservation, placing communities, infrastructure and culturally significant areas at risk. The Colville Tribes have long maintained their own forestry and wildfire management programs, working in partnership with federal and state agencies to reduce fuels and protect tribal lands.
The Spokane Tribe of Indians, whose ancestral homelands encompass much of the Spokane region, also faces impacts from the fast-moving fires that have devastated communities west of Spokane. Tribal members have experienced hazardous smoke, evacuations and threats to natural resources that have sustained Native families for generations.
The Yakama Nation has extensive experience managing wildfire across its reservation and ceded lands, where repeated fire seasons have affected forests, first foods such as huckleberries, and traditional gathering areas. Although this week’s most destructive fires have centered farther north, the Yakama Nation remains part of the statewide emergency declaration because of elevated fire danger and the ongoing strain on firefighting resources.
Tribes Helping Tribes
As fires continue to spread, tribes across Washington are also demonstrating intertribal solidarity.
On Tuesday, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians announced it had provided financial assistance to both the Colville Tribes and the Yakama Nation to support wildfire relief efforts.
“We have sent funds to the Colville Tribes and Yakama Nation to help provide relief and assistance,” the Puyallup Tribal Council said in a public statement, while also offering prayers for communities devastated by the fires.
The gesture reflects a long tradition among tribal nations of assisting neighboring communities during natural disasters, whether through emergency funding, personnel, equipment or logistical support.
Many tribes also operate professional wildland fire crews that assist not only on tribal lands but throughout the West under mutual-aid agreements. Tribal forestry departments have increasingly become leaders in prescribed burning, forest restoration and culturally informed land stewardship practices that experts say reduce the severity of catastrophic wildfires.
For many Native communities, fire is not viewed solely as a disaster but also as a natural ecological process that was historically managed through Indigenous cultural burning practices. Tribal leaders and fire scientists have increasingly argued that restoring those traditional practices can help reduce hazardous fuel loads while improving ecosystem health.
As climate change contributes to longer, hotter and more destructive fire seasons across the West, tribal nations continue to advocate for greater investment in tribal forestry programs, wildfire mitigation and Indigenous land management.
For Washington’s tribes, the current fires are another reminder that protecting tribal homelands means protecting far more than property. It means safeguarding treaty resources, sacred places, traditional foods and the cultural landscapes that connect Native people to their ancestors and future generations.
