McGill removes symbolic white pine sapling from campus

McGill University has removed a white pine sapling that was planted earlier this week during a Haudenosaunee Peace Ceremony by the Traditional Longhouse Women, a group of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) women. In a statement, McGill said that since the planting was unauthorized, it removed and potted the sapling so that it could be returned to Kanesatake. According to CTV News, Kanien’kehá:ka women activists from Kanesatake condemned the removal, calling it a “desecration of the Haudenosaunee symbol of peace.” They added that accepting the “the Great White Pine […] would have demonstrated McGill’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.”