Gathering Voices Society

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Gathering Voices Society

We build practical long-term solutions to support economic, ecological, social and cultural priorities.

At Gathering Voices Society, we believe that finding a balance between development and conservation is possible by using innovative, local models. We are an Indigenous-led charity that works closely with communities to find solutions to livelihood and sustainability issues. Together we build practical long-term solutions to support economic, ecological, social and cultural priorities. At Gathering

Voices Society, we believe that finding a balance between development and conservation is possible by using innovative, local models that incorporate traditional knowledge systems, science, and market-based tools.

08/20/2026

“Cultural burning has been a very positive impact on the land due to the fact that our berries and medicine are growing back each burn. Each burn we come back and there’s more growth of our medicines and our food. It brings the land back to life.”

Jada Setah, from Yunesit’in government, has been burning with us for four years! Something she wants to see in the future is more communities all over BC, like the Okanagan tending to the land through fire.

08/14/2026

Water-grasses and reeds can become incredibly flammable once they dry out. Burning them while there’s still snow on the ground and moisture in the system means working with that fuel when conditions are much more forgiving.

Once that highly flammable material has been burned, the treated area can act as a break — making it safer to return later in the spring and burn the surrounding systems under drier conditions, without those grasses carrying an unexpectedly hot or fast-moving fire.

But getting the timing right takes practice. Going out while there’s still snow on the ground, testing conditions, seeing what will burn — and what won’t — is part of building that knowledge through observation and experience.

Sometimes it’s too wet.

Sometimes you just need a sun dance.

08/05/2026

Wildfires roar across the land. Summer brings smoke and ash, and often, destruction.

Our team, and Yunesit’in community have been working hard every spring and fall for almost a decade to reduce severe wildfires around Tsilhqot’in. With cultural burns, we protect and revitalize land practices that have kept this land in balance forever.

07/23/2026

Elders guide the next generation.

Like Roy, the lived experiences of Elders becomes knowledge.

Knowledge which is shared through practice, through stewardship, through stories, and through living practice on the land.

Roy Lulua is so inspiring for us and our work. Every burn season, he brings the energy, the joy and the knowledge. We couldn’t do this viral work in caring for the land without people like Roy!

07/09/2026

Burn plans 🌱🔥

Making a burn plan is an essential practice. Here, members of Yunesit’in gather to discuss and survey the land before starting a burn.

They headed up to the top of a hill, observed the land below, and burned from the top down. This ensured a safe, low intensity burn.

06/30/2026

7 years of Cultural Burning with Yunesit’in 🔥 🌱

After 7 years of burning together in Tŝilhqot’in (Chilcotin), some things have changed, and some have stayed the same.

What’s changed?

- A focus on burning the perimeter of the community, to protect homes and people.
- The land has become easier to burn, with more green growth, more grass and vegetation.
- More clean burns: Around ten minutes, producing a little smoke, then the area is burned completely.
- The people, recruits who have returned, more community members of ALL ages involved, from young kids to elders.
- Growing international connections and knowledge sharing (like our wonderful exchange with Living Knowledge Network )
- Relationships with BC Wildfire Service and with researchers from UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship🌲 to expand the breadth of our stewardship.

What’s stayed the same:

- The same connection to Yunesit’in traditions of cultural burning, with a reverence for the land and Qwen (fire), and guidance from elders, and leadership from Russel Myers-Ross.
- Two burning periods per year (spring and fall), every year.
- A commitment to creating a healthier land and community through fire stewardship.

We are so proud that the Yunesit’in fire stewardship program is the longest running in British Columbia, and how much we have accomplished together for the past 7 years.

06/24/2026

Revisiting the site of the 2017 wildfire.

In 2017, a devastating wildfire tore through this land in Tsilhqot’in. It threatened the Yunesit’in community, their homes and traditional lands.

Post-fire, the Yunesit’in community came together to protect their homes, and their land.

Now, alongside Gathering Voices Society Yunesit’in is burning multiple times a year to encourage healthy landscapes and community.

06/08/2026

Our crew burning in Spring 🌱 🔥

These wonderful women are shaping their communities, and reshaping the land into a healthier version, one burn at a time.

05/25/2026

Continents apart, but a deep shared history of traditions and practices. Snow, grasslands, forests and meadows. Cultural fire unites us.

Our incredible exchange with .alliance this Spring on Tsilhqot’in land.

05/21/2026

What benefits come from Cultural Burning?

So many! From ecological restoration, improving soil health, wildfire prevention, and very importantly… it’s fun.

No doubt, it’s hard work, but it’s easier when it is done together, with community members of all generations.

In this video, both elders and Yunesit’in community members share the joy of seeing kids have fun out on the land.

Every year spent burning together is another year of growing stronger as a nation 🔥

Address

1200 Waterfront Centre, 200 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC
V7X1T2

Telephone

+16049991560

Website

http://www.gatheringvoices.com/

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