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

On the brink of disappearing, burrowing owls are recovering in B.C. — with a little help

By Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

May 4, 2026 14 min. read

The Upper Nicola Band recently released 11 captive-born owls — part of a decade-long effort...

A man in a grey jacket stands among vineyards, with a town, lake and hills beyond

How an Okanagan deep freeze left B.C.’s independent wineries with a big tax bill

By Paloma Pacheco and Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

April 23, 2026 15 min. read

B.C. wineries needed foreign grapes to replace a 2024 harvest decimated by extreme weather. Now,...

A woman wearing a work vest looks off into the distance in front of trees.

Interior Salish women are reclaiming fire — and protecting their homelands

By Santana Dreaver and Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

April 9, 2026 6 min. read

In 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

By Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

April 6, 2026 11 min. read

In March, attendees of a Salish Fire Keepers Society gathering learned about decolonizing fire management,...

An aerial view of an open-pit mine and tailings pond with a river beside them.

Similkameen Indian Bands say B.C.’s Copper Mountain mine expansion advancing without their consent

By Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

March 4, 2026 5 min. read

The project near Princeton, B.C., and close to the Similkameen River will revive an old...

Hundreds of bright pink salmon eggs float in a hatchery tub.

Across a colonial border, First Nations share salmon eggs to bypass dams

By Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

Feb. 20, 2026 5 min. read

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’

By Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

Nov. 26, 2025 15 min. read

In a time of worsening wildfires, Joe Gilchrist says cultural burning ‘needs to be multiplied...

A woman and three children, one of whom is holding a shovel, grab a sapling by its roots.

syilx children vow to ‘save the world,’ one sapling at a time

By Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

Nov. 25, 2025 6 min. read

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

By Aaron Hemens (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

Nov. 7, 2025 14 min. read

First National Indigenous Fire Gathering brings First Nations experts from Canada, Australia and the U.S....

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