Amid continuing violence in the Middle East, Kanien’kehá:ka women say the symbolic gesture is a reminder peace is possible.
A group of Kanien’kehá:ka (also known as Mohawk) women planted a tree on McGill’s lower field Sunday morning as a symbolic gesture for peace.
“The intent of the ceremony is to promote peace and justice in Palestine and around the world,” according to a press statement from the event organizers.
Nearly 200 people gathered for the tree-planting ceremony — many of them students — donning keffiyehs and flags of the Haudenosaunee confederacy.
“I hope McGill will see this not as vandalism. … We are making a small change to the landscape that is known as McGill. It’s a very small thing to ask. It’s a very small thing to want peace,” said Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, a renowned Kanien’kehá:ka activist and artist who spoke at the tree-planting ceremony.
“On our homeland, we saw students being beaten up, pepper-sprayed, silenced,” she added. “While we do not have peace in our communities, we know that this is still our land, and we know that we need to speak out as the original peoples of this land, to say that we want peace for all our people.”
After being planted, the sapling was encircled by purple and white stones, which are the representative colours of the Haudenosaunee confederacy. A handmade wood plaque was also placed next to the sapling, which reads:
“The Great White Pine tree is a symbol of peace for the Haudenosaunee peoples upon whose homeland McGill University sits. This tree of peace is a symbol of the solidarity of the Kanien’kehá:ka peoples with the students of McGill and Concordia who established a peaceful encampment here in 2024 in the name of justice for Palestine and all the peoples of Mother Earth.”
A representative of the Palestinian Youth Movement also spoke at the event, saying: “Just like the olive trees of Palestine, the white pine is a symbol of resistance and undying hope for liberation.”
Gabriel said she selected the white pine sapling from Oka Park, which is where the traditional Haudenosaunee settlement was. “This tree, the earth that it has, has a long history of our people. It contains with it the molecules and the DNA of our ancestors who fought so hard for peace,” adding the tree’s soil contains shards of pottery made by her ancestors.
McGill president Deep Saini was invited to attend the ceremony two weeks beforehand by the event organizers. In response, McGill vice-presidents Fabrice Fabreau and Christopher Manfredi sent the following in an email:
“Thank you for the proposal of planting a white pine on our campus, which we will not be pursuing. McGill’s initiatives that seek to foster reconciliation and Indigenous representation on our campus are carried out in partnership and consultation with the traditional and elected leadership of local Indigenous communities.”
“It is insulting to read your rejection,” Gabriel wrote back to McGill. “As we stated in our letter, the women of the Kanien’kehá:ka nation are entrusted as being title holders to our lands. We will decide who can or cannot speak for us and we will decide what to do on our homelands. In particular, the lands upon which McGill University is currently situated.”
Event organizers say they never received permission from McGill to plant the tree. But Gabriel asserted at the ceremony “McGill (staff) did not tell (the administration) that this is disputed land, that this still belongs to the Kanien’kehá:ka people, that this is Haudenosaunee territory.”
McGill security did not prevent the tree from being planted or interfere with the event in any way.
The Gazette reached out to McGill for comment on the event, but did not get a response in time for publication.