"Careless fires" and "smoaky weather": The documentation of prescribed burning in the Peace-Athabasca trading post journals 1818-1899

Abstract

An examination of a series of trade post journals from northern Alberta shows how the recording of prescribed fires was shaped by the foci of these brief journal entries. Contextual analysis of these records informed by previous ethnographic research on local Aboriginal burning suggests 1) that prescribed fires that were both routine and carried out at some distance from the post were not likely to be recorded, and 2) that the Aboriginal "careless fires" that threatened or appeared to threaten post property were in fact prescribed fires.