Jesse Thistle is Métis-Cree, from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He is an assistant professor in Métis Studies at York University in Toronto. He won a Governor General's Academic Medal in 2016 and is a Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Scholar and a Vanier Scholar.
"If you look through the book, you'll see flashes of light every time I was traumatized. The way that my mind works, it's like looking through a shard of broken glass, with all the different light fragments. I can only capture them in one- and two-page memories because they either score my soul and I bleed too much or I can't remember because my mind blocks it out.
It was painful, but it was also very beautiful. These were really hard, painful, sharp memories. - Jesse Thistle
"It was painful, but it was also very beautiful. These were really hard, painful, sharp memories. But I also saw there were people that were trying to help me, like the kind shop owner who gave me food or my friend at the shelter who watched out for my shoes. My brother Jerry always took care of me and took me in and I had a lot of support from my wife, Lucie. It's the good and the bad."
Media Video | Canada Reads : George Canyon and Alayna Fender discuss the merits of fiction and nonfiction in depicting relatable stories
Caption: The two panellists engaged in a debate over whether nonfiction or fiction is better at resonating with readers and fostering meaningful conversations.
Media Video | CBC Books : Jesse Thistle and George Canyon on Canada Reads 2020
Caption: Country singer George Canyon will defend Jesse Thistle's memoir From the Ashes on Canada Reads 2020. Ahead of the debates, the musician and first-time author chatted about what it was like to write a very personal book.
Media Video | Canada Reads : Amanda Brugel on the importance of championing intersectional stories
Caption: In the Canada Reads 2020 finale, The Handmaid’s Tale star and her fellow panellists debate the necessity for the stories told in their contending books.
Media Video | Here and Now : Good Relatives: Trauma, resilience, and revitalization with author Jesse Thistle
Caption: Jesse Thistle's remarkable memoir, From the Ashes, about hope and resilience as a Métis-Cree man has inspired countless readers.
This spring, as part of Canada Reads and before the COVID-19 pandemic, Thistle visited Labrador to speak with people about his experiences and his book.
Good Relatives is a look at that trip, the people he met along the way, and what the way forward looks like for him.
Media Audio | Ideas : Return of the Michif Boy: Confronting Métis trauma
Caption: By reconnecting with his birth mother PhD student Jesse Thistle came to understand the effects of intergenerational trauma. His award-winning research shines a light on the struggles and the resilience of Métis communities in northern Saskatchewan.