McGill University has removed a symbolic white pine tree that was planted by the Traditional Longhouse Women—a group of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) women—as part of a tree planting ceremony on campus. The tree was planted on the former site of the pro-Palestinian encampment that was held on McGill’s campus over the summer. It was surrounded by white and purple stones and marked with a wooden placard that read: “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.” McGill stated that it did not permit the group to plant the tree on campus. While security reportedly did not intervene in the tree planting ceremony, following the ceremony, the university removed the sapling and rocks, which were picked up by two students on behalf of the organizers. The Traditional Longhouse Women have condemned the removal as a “desecration of the Haudenosaunee symbol of peace.”
