Aaron Hemens
Aaron Hemens is an award-winning journalist and photographer, currently working as a reporter with IndigiNews. He is of mixed Filipino and European ancestry, living in unceded syilx (Okanagan) territory in snpinktn (Penticton), Canada. His pictures and stories have been published in the Associated Press, the Canadian Press, the Globe and Mail, CBC, the Wall Street Journal, the Narwhal, APTN News, Inuvik Drum and more. In 2025, he won gold in the Digital Publishing Awards’ best news coverage for a community publication, for his three-part series on the Copper Mountain Mine’s proposed expansion project. He was also a mentee in Room Up Front — a Canadian Photojournalism mentorship for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour — in its inaugural year in 2020. As of 2025 he is one of the program’s mentors. Aaron is an alumnus of Carleton University’s School of Journalism, graduating in 2018.
Stories by Aaron Hemens
Interior Salish women are reclaiming fire — and protecting their homelands
6 min. readIn Canada’s hotspot for wildfires, First Nations women are challenging colonialism and patriarchy by leading...
Before wildfire season begins again, Indigenous firekeepers gather in Interior B.C. to share knowledge
In March, attendees of a Salish Fire Keepers Society gathering learned about decolonizing fire management,...
Similkameen Indian Bands say B.C.’s Copper Mountain mine expansion advancing without their consent
The project near Princeton, B.C., and close to the Similkameen River will revive an old...
Across a colonial border, First Nations share salmon eggs to bypass dams
This year marks a decade of the partnership between the Confederated Tribes of the Colville...
Amid climate impacts in B.C., leading Secwépemc firekeeper shares ‘a better way of looking after the land’
In a time of worsening wildfires, Joe Gilchrist says cultural burning ‘needs to be multiplied...
syilx children vow to ‘save the world,’ one sapling at a time
Elementary students plant native trees and shrubs to help salmon migrate through new fish passageway...
‘We have a way to save communities’: Indigenous fire keepers share knowledge across colonial borders
First National Indigenous Fire Gathering brings First Nations experts from Canada, Australia and the U.S....
‘This is the vision’: Inside Nlaka’pamux Nation’s quest to build B.C.’s first major solar project
As the province fast-tracks development, the Southern Interior tribal council has lessons to share on...
Beavers disappeared from syilx territories. Could imitating their habitats bring them back — and restore their wetlands?
Historically seen as a ‘nuisance’ species to be trapped and removed, beavers may be key...