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
Beavers disappeared from syilx territories. Could imitating their habitats bring them back — and restore their wetlands?
16 min. readHistorically seen as a ‘nuisance’ species to be trapped and removed, beavers may be key...
Okanagan researchers seek new treatments for bighorn sheep, ravaged by disease
The Penticton Indian Band is the hub of a research project that hopes to revive...
‘We’re going to create space for our animals’: B.C., feds commit $8 million for ecological corridors
Funding will help communities identify, plan and improve corridors that link vital patches of wildlife...
‘Just respect the fire’: Bringing cultural fires back to a parched landscape brings risk and reward in the Okanagan Valley
Long before colonialism, syilx people led low-intensity controlled burns. Those bringing it back see how...
‘They feel their spirits’: thousands of salmon fry released in syilx Okanagan ceremonies
After raising the fish in their classrooms as part of an Okanagan Nations Alliance program,...