Photo courtesy of Nicole Redvers
A former resident of Hay River has just released her first book, and she will be returning to her hometown next month for the official launch.
Dr. Nicole Redvers, a naturopathic doctor in Yellowknife, has written 'The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles'.
"The main goal of the book was actually to be able to demonstrate the brilliance of our Indigenous elders, not only here in the North but also across the world, in terms of their depth of knowledge about wellness and health," she said.
Redvers said she aimed to honour elders, but in a way that actually speaks to people in science and research, recognizing that the concepts are often very similar.
"It's just using different language between the two systems of looking at health and disease," she said.
Redvers hopes her book strikes the right balance of being able to demonstrate those scientific connections, but at the same time being accessible to a wider audience.
"So for the most part I think I have done a fairly good job of that," she said. "There's definitely a few parts that are a bit more technical, but I'm very careful to explain very clearly any sort of nuanced language that's in there."
Redvers noted it is urgent to pass on the information to ensure that future generations understand Indigenous medicine systems.
"In keeping with that, it definitely would be honest to say that traditional medicine hasn't been prioritized by any means in the Indigenous context in Canada, and in many other places in the world," she said.
Redvers took about two years to write the book and an extra year to get it published.
"Because it's definitely not easy as a first-time writer to get published, let alone to get published with somebody that has good networks," she said.
In the end, the book has been published by North Atlantic Books of Berkeley, California, and is being distributed by Penguin Random House.
"It was very challenging as a first-time author, but I'm very excited because the content and the book itself were accepted in terms of full publishing," said Redvers.
She noted the whole process took a lot of perseverance.
Redvers will hold the first book launch for 'The Science of the Sacred' at NWT Centennial Library on April 27, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
"I decided to come back home to Hay River to do it," she said of the launch, noting her first job when she was 12 or 13 years old was stacking books at the Hay River library.