Canadian wildfires hit Indigenous communities hard, threatening their land and culture

By Tammy Webber And Noah Berger  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS EAST PRAIRIE METIS SETTLEMENT, Alberta (AP)- Carrol Johnston counted her blessings as she stood on the barren site where her home was destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire that forced her to flee her northern Alberta community two months ago. Her family escaped unharmed, though her beloved cat, Missy, didn’t make it out before a “fireball” dropped on the house in early May. But peony bushes passed down from her late mother survived and the blackened May Day tree planted in memory of her longtime partner is sending up new shoots, hopeful signs as she prepares to start over in the East Prairie Metis Settlement, about 240 miles (385 kilometers) northwest of Edmonton. “I just can’t leave,” said Johnston, 72, who shared…

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