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We’re chuffed to see photojournalist Amber Bracken’s work for The Narwhal has been nominated for a National Magazine Award!
Bracken’s work features a series of intimate portraits of residents of Fort Chipewyan, Alta. and was nominated in the photo essay and photojournalism category.
In Fort Chip, as locals call it, residents have long been worried about their water. Over two years ago, Imperial Oil discovered industrial wastewater leaks that were infiltrating groundwater from a mining site, and failed to tell residents about it for months.
In the wake of these revelations, Bracken travelled to Fort Chip to speak to residents about their relationship to water. She brought back an emotional and visually compelling photo essay in which people shared, in their own words, how the situation impacts them.
“Amber’s ability to put a human face on the effects of industry is always impressive and evocative,” executive editor Denise Balkissoon said. “The combination of these portraits and the soaring aerial views of the oilsands alongside really intimate, personal details is pure Bracken — and something every Canadian should read and see.”
Bracken has travelled to Fort Chipewyan four times in recent years, including as part of feature reporting for The Narwhal about the initial reaction to the leak.
During a 2024 trip to the region, Bracken invited various community members to meet with her at an Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation house she had permission to use, asking them to share what feelings the meeting brought up about their connection to water and their right to a healthy environment.
“This story represents some of the things that I value most in journalism, including working with a talented, caring and invested team — and also having sustained interest and sustained coverage of issues that affect people’s everyday lives,” Bracken said.
“It’s not always easy to get to the community of Fort Chipewyan, and it means a lot to me that The Narwhal stood behind me to make a repeat visit and to try to tell these stories.”
Bracken heard from other community members about someone else they thought would want to talk — Claire Cardinal, who had been spending time in Edmonton for cancer treatment. Bracken met with her just months before she passed away from her illness.
“I’m fighting for my life,” Cardinal told Bracken. “Hopefully I can beat this,” Cardinal said of the cancer she believed was tied to the oilsands. “I want to be on this earth for another at least 10 years — just to see my grandson when they graduate and the two younger ones. Yeah. Fighting, fighting, fighting.”
Cardinal passed away last summer from her illness.
The region has been found to have “higher than expected” cases of rare cancers, and it wasn’t until last year that the federal government finally agreed to assess the toxicity of compounds found in oilsands tailings.
“It was truly an honor to have Claire, Kenneth, Janelle, Jason, Lionel, Jean and Roy put their trust in me, and I’m really grateful to see their stories getting some of the attention that they’ve always deserved,” Bracken said. “I find myself thinking about Claire and her husband, Kenneth, and I do wish that Claire could be here to see the attention that her story has received.”
“Claire wanted her story to be told, and also for other women to read it,” Whiteknife said after the photo essay was published. “You just gotta think positive and pray and just go on with your life, but don’t think negative. Live life till the last day on earth. And that’s what my wife did.”
A story produced as part of a collaborative series between The Local and The Narwhal was also nominated in the investigative reporting category. The Local’s Wency Leung was recognized for her investigation into GFL, the Ontario-based waste management company that says it’s “Green For Life” — but its neighbours disagree.
The winners of the National Magazine Awards will be announced Friday, June 13, in Toronto.
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