Namaygoosisagagun First Nation/Collins has burned to the ground. The entire community is nothing but ashes after being quickly consumed by wildfires. They did not have any support from emergency services, and no one offered aid. The community saved themselves by escaping into boats because no one came.

Mishkeegogamang and Cat Lake have lost power. Families are ending up in shelters with nothing. Armstrong, Lac La Croix, Whitesand, Gull Bay, Lac des Mille Lacs are currently in the fires path and all members are being evacuated.

All this loss, all this devastation, and it was entirely preventable.

After steadily underfunding wildland firefighting and purposefully excluding Indigenous wildland firefighters and Indigenous wildfire organizations from wildfire operations, firefighter training, decisionmaking, and resource exchanges, in 2025, Doug Ford slashed the forest firefighting budget.

It's hard to ignore his decision to cut funding and leave us out of adequate fire training (even though we've lived with forest fires for thousands of years—far longer than settlers have been in Canada—and made sure fires like the ones we're all seeing today were prevented through kinisitotēn) when, despite making up less than 5% of the population, we account for 42% percent of all wildfire evacuations in Canada.

And when we are successfully evacuated, we face discrimination and racism—like Kashechewan—because it's always been easier to blame us than it is to blame the true culprit: denialism, corportate greed, and colonization.

The people of Collins and every other impacted community deserve better.

Right now, the AFN is currently accepting donations to help Collins First Nation. If you're able to, please consider donating.

ONWA (Ontario Native Women's Association) is another great place to donate to. They have outreach vans going to motels and inns and offering food, water, resources, and cultural support to those impacted by the wildfires.

Other places to consider donating to are Mikinakoos Emergency Fund, Red Cross, True North Aid, Indigenous Climate Action. You can also send donations directly to Whitesand First Nation via e-transfer ([email protected]) and they request that you add your full name in the e-transfer comment section to receive a tax receipt.

*Before sending money, verify that the appeal appears on an official First Nation, Tribal Council or registered charity channel.

If you can't offer financial support, please consider donating items of need. Moontime Connections is currently accepting drop-off donations. If you live in the Thunder Bay area, Namaygoosisagagun Health Office is also taking in donations! They can also bemailed to Superior Inn Hotel & Conference Centre at 555 West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 5P8.

items needed are: food, diapers, medical masks, men’s and women’s joggers (all sizes), children’s clothing (newborn to size 14), children’s shoes, summer clothing, men’s clothing, toiletries (lotion, Vaseline, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, etc.), strollers, adult depends-all sizes, dog & cat food

Businesses in Afghanistan's western city of Herat have suffered from a downturn in female customers opting to stay home following a recent crackdown by morality police on women's attire, according to shopkeepers, drivers and residents.

Dozens of women were detained by the Taliban government's morality police in early June on accusations they were violating official dress codes by not wearing the body-cloaking chador or burqa.

A rare protest against the restrictions was violently dispersed with at least two people killed, according to the United Nations.

"Since those incidents occurred... there were no women in the markets," 26-year-old Ramin Ghafoori, a Herat-based businessman who runs a tailoring shop, told AFP. 

Female shoppers dominate the customer base of the normally bustling markets in Herat, Afghanistan's western commercial hub and one of its largest cities. 

"Ninety percent of our sales are to women, women come to buy even for men," said Nazeer Ahmad Azimi, who runs a shoe store, noting men were often too busy to shop, occupied in the job opportunities that have shrunk for women.

He estimated that the recent ramp-up of enforcement in restrictions on women had halved the turnover in the city's markets.

A spokesman for Herat's city administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the fallout of restrictions.

Since returning to power in 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed a series of rules on women's access to public life, barring them from studying beyond primary school, working in certain professions and visiting parks.

A 28-year-old Herat resident who asked not to be named for security reasons said she had stopped going out to meet friends with whom she used to patronise restaurants and go on shopping trips. 

"I feel like a stranger," she said of her recent experience of her home city, echoing several women who told AFP the fear of being policed made them stay home.

The restrictions have transformed the face of Herat, once known as Afghanistan's cultural capital where female university students outnumbered men before the Taliban government returned.

Married the love of my life at 50.

Got my Class A CDL at 59.

You've got time.

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