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Jimmy Kalinek soars high in the sky during a blanket toss activity that was hosted during Inuvik’s National Indigenous Day celebrations on June 21, 2019. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Inuvik Drum)
Kanahus Manuel, a Secwépemc and Ktunaxa land defender who co-founded the Tiny House Warriors with her twin sister Mayuk in 2017, sits in front of a tiny home located in the group’s village in Blue River, B.C., Canada, on April 14, 2022. Located beside a camp that houses 550 Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project workers, the Tiny House Warriors are in opposition to the construction of the project on their unceded homelands. Nearly half of the pipeline expansion’s proposed route lies within the territory of the Secwépemc Nation. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for HuffPost)
Members of the BC Wildfire Service place sandbags along Mission Creek in Kelowna, B.C., on June 14, 2022. The creek’s water level rose by one metre overnight, spilling its banks and causing flooding to nearby properties. (Aaron Hemens for the Globe and Mail)
Seth Spotted-Eagle, a syilx and Dene (Navajo) dancer, participates in a Grand Entry Powwow that was hosted at the Okanagan Indian Band’s grand reopening of their Cultural Arbor on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for IndigiNews)
Ella Lamoureux (born Dustin Dufault), a Kaska Dena Two-Spirit drag artist, prepares her makeup at her Kelowna, B.C., home before a performance at the Friends of Dorothy Lounge on Jan. 28, 2022. While one may wear more makeup and don a colourful wig, Ella and Dustin are not two different people; they’re one and the same. “When I tried to put on an act with Ella, it was inauthentic because Ella was not an act, she’s a part of me and part of who I was.” (Photo by Aaron Hemens for IndigiNews)
Ella Lamoureux (born Dustin Dufault), a Kaska Dena Two-Spirit drag artist, performs at the Friends of Dorothy Lounge in Kelowna, B.C., on Oct. 1, 2021. While one may wear more makeup and don a colourful wig, Ella and Dustin are not two different people; they’re one and the same. “When I tried to put on an act with Ella, it was inauthentic because Ella was not an act, she’s a part of me and part of who I was.” (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Kelowna Capital News)
Ella Lamoureux (born Dustin Dufault), a Kaska Dena Two-Spirit drag artist, does one final makeup check at her Kelowna, B.C., home before leaving for a performance at the Friends of Dorothy Lounge on Oct. 1, 2021. While one may wear more makeup and don a colourful wig, Ella and Dustin are not two different people; they’re one and the same. “When I tried to put on an act with Ella, it was inauthentic because Ella was not an act, she’s a part of me and part of who I was.” (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Kelowna Capital News)
A view of the setting sun from the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre in sw̓iw̓s (Osoyoos) in syilx homelands on Oct. 27, during the first evening of the fourth nk’mip (Osoyoos Lake) Water Science Forum. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for IndigiNews)
A person examines the cross country skiing trails at the Telemark Nordic Club in West Kelowna, B.C., during the clubÕs first day of the season on Nov. 12, 2022. The club is traditionally open for cross country skiing and snowshoeing in early or mid December, but after receiving more than 80 cm of snow since Nov. 4, this year is the earliest that the site has opened in nearly 30 years, said club manager Mike Edwards. (Aaron Hemens for the Globe and Mail)
Inside of the Oceola Fish and Game Club in Lake Country, B.C., during the first evening of the 2022 Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) program on May 13, 2022. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for the Globe and Mail)
A car drives down a flooded Houston Street in Merritt, B.C., on Nov. 15, 2021. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for the Globe and Mail)
A wildfire-damaged Killiney Beach property near Kelowna, B.C., on Aug. 24, 2021. The property is located in one of the Westside Road neighbourhoods that was impacted by the White Rock Lake Wildfire, which burned a total of 83,342 hectares that summer. (Aaron Hemens for Kelowna Capital News)
A man looks towards the White Rock Lake wildfire from downtown Kelowna, B.C., on Aug. 15, 2021. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Kelowna Capital News)
Construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in a neighbourhood in Vavenby, B.C., Canada, on April 14, 2022. The construction of the path is part of a massive expansion route of the federally-owned pipeline. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for HuffPost)
Red dresses and cloth to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, placed by members of the Tiny House Warriors, line the perimeter of a camp that houses 550 Trans Mountain Pipeline workers in Blue River, B.C., Canada, on April 14, 2022. A 2020 report by CanadaÕs National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found Òsubstantial evidenceÓ that temporary worker camps increase violence against women in nearby communities. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for HuffPost)
Secwépemc Hereditary Chief Saw-ses stands outside of Tkʼemlúps (Kamloops) courthouse in Secwepemcúl’ecw during the first day of his sentencing on Feb. 23, 2023. Saw-ses, a survivor of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, was sentenced to 28 days in jail for resisting Trans Mountain’s construction in his homelands. Photo by Aaron Hemens for IndigiNews
A dancer wearing regalia with “Every Child Matters” written on it participates in the grand entry of the second day of the 41st Kamloopa Powwow in Tk’emlúps (Kamloops) in Secwépemc homelands on July 30. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for IndigiNews)
A child sits on a woman’s lap outside of the entrance of the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society in Kelowna, B.C., on Sept. 29, 2021, during the group’s ceremony for the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Kelowna Capital News)
A Kelowna General Hospital patient watches a protest against COVID-19 health measures unfold outside of the hospital on Sept. 1, 2021. After the announcement of a provincial vaccine passport, at least 1,000 people took to the streets in front of the hospital to protest the program. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Kelowna Capital News)
A woman wipes her eye as she raises her fist in the air during Ottawa’s second annual Women’s March at Parliament Hill on Jan. 20, 2018. Ottawa was one of the hundreds of cities around the world to host a women’s march that day, which began in 2017 following Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Centretown News)
A dead fish along the shore of the Coquihalla River in Hope, B.C. on Aug. 15, near the site of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project’s Coquihalla River crossing. Photo by Aaron Hemens for IndigiNews
A fan watches the 49th annual Panda Game football match between the University of Ottawa GeeGees and the Carleton University Ravens at TD Stadium in Ottawa, Ont., on Sept. 30, 2017. The Ravens won 33-30 in OT, in front of a sellout crowd of 24,420 people. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for the Charlatan)
Bonnie Donozan participates in a trap shooting workshop at the Oceola Shooting Range in Kelowna, B.C., for the 2022 Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) program on May 14, 2022. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for the Globe and Mail)
A Westcana Electric employee installs a new yellow traffic light box in Creston, B.C., on Sept. 4, 2020. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Creston Valley Advance)
Youth play on the Okanagan Indian Band’s Cultural Arbor during its grand reopening event in syilx homelands on May 28, 2022. Photo by Aaron Hemens for IndigiNews
A child walks with their dog along the waterfront of Okanagan Lake in Kelowna, B.C., on Aug. 27, 2021. (Photo by Aaron Hemens for Kelowna Capital News)