Magnolia A. R. Unka-Wool
Chair – Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation Board of Directors, Dene Lawyer
Magnolia is a denesuline lawyer born and raised in the Northwest Territories. Magnolia has been working as a lawyer since 2009 and currently works in Yellowknife at Justice Canada with the Indigenous Rights and Relations Portfolio practising in the area of Indigenous and Aboriginal law. Magnolia also volunteers with many professional and community organizations bringing her professional, northern Indigenous and parenting experience. Magnolia is a full time mother, professional and dedicated community volunteer who envisions a healthy and abundant north for all future generations.
Thomsen D’Hont
Vice-Chair, Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation Board of Directors, Métis Physician
Thomsen D’Hont is Métis and was born and raised in Yellowknife. Thomsen grew up hunting, fishing and camping with his family and continues to spend as much time out in the bush as possible. Thomsen has been with the AIWF since its founding in 2017. He joined the board after he completed a needs assessment for a hospital-based Indigenous wellness centre in the Northwest Territories while working at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research. Thomsen is passionate about physical activity, Indigenous wellness through cultural connection, local capacity building for Indigenous healthcare workers, and on-the-land programming. Thomsen completed medical school at UBC’s Northern Medical Program in 2020 and finished his family medicine residency in Yellowknife with the U of A in 2022. He currently works as a family doctor mainly in Yellowknife, but he has also worked in a dozen other communities in the NWT as a doctor or resident doctor.
Nicole Redvers
Director – Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, Dene Scholar and Activist
Dr. Nicole Redvers, ND, MPH, is a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation located within Denendeh (NWT). She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine-INMED at the University of North Dakota where she helped co-develop and launch the first Indigenous health PhD degree program in North America. Dr. Redvers is the co-founder and chair of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation based in the Canadian sub-Arctic, with the foundation awarded the $1 million-dollar 2017 Arctic Inspiration Prize for their work with vulnerable populations. She has been actively involved at the international level promoting the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in planetary health and education for sustainable healthcare (ESH). She sits on the inaugural advisory board for the American Public Health Association’s Center for Climate, Health and Equity Steering Committee, is a senior fellow of Indigenous and Community Health with inVIVO Planetary Health, and sits on the steering committee for the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA). Dr. Redvers engages in a breadth of scholarly projects attempting to bridge gaps between Indigenous and Western ways of knowing as it pertains to individual, community and planetary health including her trade paperback book titled, ‘The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles’
Francois Paulette
Director – Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation
Previous Chief, Knowledge Keeper, Environmentalist
A Dene Suline, Francois Paulette survived the residential school system before going on to become the youngest chief in the NWT Indian Brotherhood in 1971. In 1972, along with 16 other chiefs from the Mackenzie Valley, he challenged the Crown to recognize treaty and Aboriginal rights and title to over 450,000 square miles of land in the historic Paulette case. He remains a passionate and outspoken advocate of treaty and Aboriginal rights in all matters affecting his people, and is recognized in the courts as an expert witness on historic treaties. His work has taken him to the far corners of the world, including Palenque, Copenhagen, New York City, Melbourne, Oslo, Hawaii, and Durban. He was a founding member and chairman of the Dene Cultural Institute, and continues to serve as an interpreter of traditional knowledge and a facilitator of cross-cultural understanding. As a collaborator on a number of Canadian and international documentary films, he has helped to increase public understanding of the Dene way of life in addition to environmental issues affecting his people.
Killulark Arngna’naaq
CPA, CA, MMPA, BBA
Director – Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation
Killulark Arngna’naaq works as MakeWay’s Northern Program Manager. Her father is from Qamani’tuaq, Nunavut and her mother is of Scottish heritage from Ontario. She grew up in Yellowknife and parts of Ontario. She spends her time beading, sewing, and recently spends most of her time raising her son Ikajuut. Prior to joining the charitable sector Killulark worked in corporate accounting.
Noni Paulette
Secretary Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation Board of Directors, Public Outreach Coordinator- On The Land Unit
My father is Dënesųłinë́ from Thebatthi (Ft Fitzgerald). He showed me Dene people are interconnected with this land, the water and the animals forever. My mother comes from the island of Haiti. She showed me the power of resiliency, and the deep gift of love. From this place I try to find meaningful connections in my work and personal life. And I love spending time in the bush!
Laney Gail Beaulieu
Director – Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, Medical student
Laney Beaulieu is a Dene and Metis woman from Deninu K’ue (Fort Resolution), Northwest Territories. Laney graduated from Western University in 2021 an earned an honours bachelor of science degree with a double major in medical sciences and biology. She is currently a third-year medical student at Western University in London, ON. She is also a member of the Leadership Circle for the Indigenous Medical Students Association of Canada, and recently completed her term as Student Director on the board of directors for the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada. She is currently doing research under the guidance of Dr. Chantelle Richmond on the use of Dene Peacemaking Circles in conflict resolution and relationship building.