WE ARRIVE WITH FIRE explores how fire came to the people, the relationship fire has with the land, how settlers sought to separate fire and land, and the efforts of the Cultural Fire Management Council (CFMC), led by Executive Director Margo Robbins, to reunite fire and the land in a good way. Unlike Western stories that focus on protagonist growth, WE ARRIVE WITH FIRE uses Native storytelling methods focusing on the moral lessons and practices audiences can adopt. WE ARRIVE WITH FIRE is organized around six chapters–Origins, Fire, Air, Land, Water, and Fire–that reflect the cyclical nature of Indigenous storytelling. In each chapter we accompany Margo and the fire lighting crew as they work with fire. We observe aspects of Indigenous ecological knowledge and come to understand the necessity of placing good fire on the land. Each chapter also includes an illustrated Indigenous ecological field guide; charcoal illustrations placed over the land will illuminate the beneficial processes facilitated by fire. Finally, each chapter includes interstitials where we observe members of the community engaging in practices that rely on good fire. WE ARRIVE WITH FIRE demonstrates hope in community. The hope of fire to heal the land and people. The hope in Indigenous knowledge to address the environmental concerns of the people who reside on Turtle Island. And the hope that we can secure balance and abundance when we arrive with fire.
