Aaron Hemens

_{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. For HuffPost}

_{A view of the setting sun from the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre in sw̓iw̓s (Osoyoos) in syilx homelands on Oct. 27, 2022. For IndigiNews}

_{Land defender Khursten Bullock stands by a sacred fire that was lit near a Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) project’s open pit construction site by Jacko Lake near Kamloops, B.C., on Dec. 9, 2023. For IndigiNews}

_{A person examines the cross country skiing trails at the Telemark Nordic Club in West Kelowna, B.C., during the club’s first day of the season on Nov. 12, 2022. For the Globe and Mail}

_{A person stands in Okanagan Lake near downtown Kelowna, B.C., as the McDougall Creek wildfire burns in the hills above West Kelowna, B.C., on the evening of Aug. 17, 2023. For The Globe and Mail}

_{Roy Allgaier puts out spots fire in the forest behind his family’s property in Chase, B.C., on Aug. 20, 2023. For the Globe and Mail}

_{James Krebber catches his breath after fighting wildfires burning near his property in Chase, B.C., on Aug. 20, 2023. For The Globe and Mail}

_{Neighbours help put out spots fires in forestry behind the Allgaier property in Chase, B.C., on Aug. 20, 2023. For the Globe and Mail}

_{Supporters of Universal Ostrich Farms stand near ostriches at the farm’s property in Edgewood, B.C., on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Hundreds of supporters flocked to the farm over the Victoria long weekend to protest the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s order to cull 400 ostriches. For the Canadian Press}

_{A supporter of Universal Ostrich Farms takes a photo of an ostrich at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Hundreds of supporters flocked to the farm over the Victoria long weekend to protest the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s order to cull 400 ostriches. For the Canadian Press}

_{Karen Espersen, the co-owner of the Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., celebrates with her family after learning that an interim stay order was granted by the Supreme Court of Canada on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, delaying the culling of 400 of the farm’s ostriches. For the Canadian Press}

_{Ostriches eat their feed at the Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Hundreds of supporters flocked to the farm over the Victoria long weekend to protest the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s order to cull 400 ostriches. For the Canadian Press}

_{A deer rests under a tree to get shade from the sun at the Knox Mountain Park in Kelowna, B.C., on May 6, 2025. For the Narwhal}

_{Salmon fry are streamed into Slocan Lake in syilx Okanagan territory during a ceremonial release hosted by the Okanagan Nation Alliance on May 13, 2024. For IndigiNews}

_{A water bomber plane drops water over the Drought Hill wildfire burning near Peachland, B.C., outside of West Kelowna, on July 31, 2025. For the Globe and Mail}

_{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. For the Globe and Mail}

_{BC Wildfire Service members use drip torches to treat surface fuels during a prescribed cultural burn with the Boothroyd Indian Band on Nlaka’pamux homelands on May 2, 2024. For IndigiNews}

_{ki law na Clarence Louie, y̓ilmixʷm (Chief) of Osoyoos Indian Band, prepares to cross into the U.S. from Canada via horseback at the Osoyoos-Oroville border in syilx territory on July 20, 2024. For IndigiNews}

_{suiki?st Pauline Terbasket, the executive director of the Okanagan Nation Alliance, raises her fist in the air as horseback riders cross into the U.S. from Canada at the Osoyoos-Oroville border in syilx Okanagan territory on July 20, 2024. For IndigiNews}

_{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. For IndigiNews}

_{Herman Edward of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, one of founders and organizers of the annual Sukʷnaqin July 4th Canoe Journey, lays down tobacco in Osoyoos Lake in sw̓iw̓s (Osoyoos) in syilx homelands, prior to the launch of the cross-border canoe journey on July 4, 2023. For IndigiNews}

_{Dixon Terbasket, a syilx wildlife technician with the Okanagan Nation Alliance from the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, examines a fenced-off cherry orchard expansion site near Kelowna, British Columbia, on Dec. 6, 2023. For IndigiNews and the Associated Press}

_{People play volleyball at the City Park beach in downtown Kelowna, B.C., as thick smoke from the McDougall Creek wildfire burning nearby fills the air on Aug. 19, 2023. For The Globe and Mail}

_{People watch from downtown Kelowna, B.C., as the McDougall Creek wildfire burns in the hills above West Kelowna, B.C., on the evening of Aug. 17, 2023. For the Globe and Mail}

_{Prime Minister Justin Trudeau address the upcoming wildfire season at the West Kelowna Fire Rescue hall in West Kelowna, B.C., on Friday, May 10, 2024. For the Canadian Press}

_{A student from Okanagan Indian Band’s Cultural Immersion School runs their hand through the Salmon River in syilx territory during a ceremonial release hosted by the Okanagan Nation Alliance on June 19, 2024. For IndigiNews}

_{Land defender Khursten Bullock is illuminated by cell phone light during the early hours of Dec. 10, 2023, moments before breaching a court-ordered injunction at a Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) project construction site by Jacko Lake near Kamloops, B.C. For IndigiNews}

_{Construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in a neighbourhood in Vavenby, B.C., Canada, on April 14, 2022. 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. For HuffPost}

_{A family goes for a walk near the shore of the Columbia River in Revelstoke, B.C., Canada, on March 20, 2024. The river’s low-water levels have exposed the shoreline around the area and left puddles throughout. For the Wall Street Journal}

_{Ella Lamoureux, 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. For IndigiNews}

_{Ella Lamoureux, 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. For Kelowna Capital News}

_{Ella Lamoureux, a Kaska Dena Two-Spirit drag artist, performs at the Friends of Dorothy Lounge in Kelowna, B.C., on Oct. 1, 2021. For Kelowna Capital News}

_{Financial Facelift assignment at a home in Penticton, B.C., Jan. 22, 2023. For The Globe and Mail}

_{A Westcana Electric employee installs a new yellow traffic light box in Creston, B.C., on Sept. 4, 2020. For the Creston Valley Advance}

_{Jimmy Kalinek soars high in the sky during a blanket toss demonstration that was hosted during Inuvik’s National Indigenous Day celebrations on June 21, 2019. For the Inuvik Drum}