The worst wildfire season in Washington state history could be particularly devastating to the people who have lived here between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains since long before the region became part of the United States.
Like other communities in the rural hills and valleys here, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation — 12 tribes forced onto a reservation in 1872 — are fighting to protect their lives, homes and businesses. Yet while most are battling to confine the blaze to the wildlands outside their communities, for the tribes, the vast, drought-stricken forests are almost equally precious — and not just because they regard the natural world as sacred.