By Matteo Cimellaro Local Journalism Initiative Reporter James Tomma was done with politics and wasn’t planning to run in the 2020 election. He told his supporters he was ready to walk away. But they told him to put up or shut up and urged him to be on the ballot. Somehow, he won. Now, two and a half years later, as Kukpi7 (Chief) of Skwl?x te Secwepemcul?ecw, Tomma is leading his community through a difficult journey of recovery from the worst wildfire disaster in band history. In August, the Bush Creek fire left devastation and displacement in its wake as it spread across the nation’s lands about 70 km east of Kamloops. Tomma is now in charge of a lengthy rebuilding process there. Nearby, Lytton First Nation is only now…
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