An evening with Jesse Thistle highlights archives awareness

Waterloo Region – In honour of Archives Awareness Week, the Region of Waterloo Archives is hosting a free event with Jesse Thistle. Jesse will speak on “Archives as Good Medicine,” his award-winning paper about healing Metis Intergenerational trauma passed down through his mother’s line since the Northwest resistance of 1885.

Jesse will also present a very personal piece about his father’s disappearance/murder in 1982, “An Intergenerational Christmas Tale”. Jesse will discuss how he used archives to figure out his family history and used it to heal himself and family with the support of his thesis supervisor and archivists.

Jesse Thistle is Cree-Metis on his mother’s side, and Algonquin-Scot on his father’s side. Jesse is a Ph.D. student in History at York University, studying under Dr. Carolyn Podruchny. He was awarded the Governor General’s Silver Medal and is a Trudeau and a Vanier Scholar. His journey from homeless addict to successful university student is unique among graduate students. His lived-experience path has shaped the way he approaches homeless studies, Indigenous history, social work, and addiction studies.

What: An evening with Jesse Thistle – Archives as Good Medicine

When: Tuesday April 11 at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Region of Waterloo Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, 150 Frederick Street, Kitchener.

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For more information, please contact:

Charlotte Woodley, Archivist, Region of Waterloo Archives 519-575-4400 x3511 cwoodley@regionofwaterloo.ca