By Amy Romer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, IndigiNews Tucked into a quiet corner of the Bill Reid Gallery is a nine-minute film by Nlaka’pamux artist Jade Baxter about the wildfire that devastated her homelands. Through a series of raw, handheld clips, Why Would I Leave? documents the months leading up to the June 2021 blaze that tore through “Lytton.” Baxter’s footage captures not only the fire itself, but the simmering tension of a community living under intensifying climate pressure. After weeks of record-breaking temperatures during the western “North America” Heat Dome, the fast-moving flames caused two fatalities and destroyed most of the Nlaka’pamux village. The piece is part of the new exhibition Vital Signs, which features work by six First Nations artists who explore the personal and collective impacts of…
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