On Nov. 17, organizers planted a white pine tree during a Haudenosaunee peace ceremony on McGill’s Lower Field as a symbol of peace, unity, and collaboration. The tree signified solidarity with the brutally dismantled Palestine Solidarity Encampment that resided at the same site, and the continuation of demands for McGill’s divestment from the genocide in Gaza. The next day, the McGill administration uprooted this tree—a violent action that is directly emblematic of McGill’s institutional hypocrisy towards Indigenous peoples’ land rights and McGill’s intolerance toward pro-Palestinian protests.
Though physically small, this white pine—rightfully planted on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) land—represented a revolutionary opportunity for McGill to take the first step in productive and holistic reparations. Allowing the white pine to grow would have been a symbol of respect for the Kanien’kehá:ka peoples’ sovereignty over the land upon which McGill is settled. However, by forcibly uprooting the white pine less than 24 hours after it was planted in an act of fundamental violence, McGill proved once again that its priorities lie in colonial control, not in solidarity.
Excising the white pine exposes the truth behind McGill’s performative attempts at genuine reconciliation, and the non-commitment to the values it endorses in its lecture halls. McGill’s Land Acknowledgement—read before most administration-hosted events—calls only for two actions: To acknowledge and thank the Indigenous peoples for the settlement on and use of their land. These empty commitments are reflected in McGill’s continuation of the colonial New Vic Project despite protest from the Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) that the construction exists on the site of potential unmarked graves. The administration’s shallow claims are further evidenced by the absence of an Indigenous Studies major program at the university. McGill’s support for Indigenous rights and history is contained within narrow performative boundaries, stopping far short of even the minimum commitment to Indigenous presence in curricula, faculty, and positions of decision-making authority.
The white pine was an explicit symbol of peace, yet even to that, McGill reciprocated with destruction—proving that what McGill fears is not potential “violence” of the human rights movements endorsed through the planting ceremony, but rather enacted de-colonial thought. McGill’s unconscionable actions towards the solidarity ceremony mirror their violent dismantling of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment in July, highlighting McGill’s tendency to vilify any threat to their colonial authority. It is shameful that McGill frames a tree planted in peace as an act of vandalism, while McGill itself has committed and continues to contribute to such cruel acts of colonial violence concerning both Quebec’s Indigenous communities and the Israeli state’s killing of thousands of Palestinians.
The planting of the white pine presented an opportunity for the McGill administration to spark conversation between themselves, Indigenous peoples, and those calling for divestment from Israeli enterprises. By removing the white pine—a sacred symbol of peace—the McGill administration exposed the stark discrepancy between its self-proclaimed values of fostering critical thinkers who advocate for justice, and its continued colonial practices. McGill must acknowledge this foundational hypocrisy in its institutional actions.
McGill must recognize the Kanien’kehá:ka as the rightful land owners to the grounds of McGill in order to forge a path forward where Indigenous land rights are honoured and reparations are offered to the greatest possible extent. McGill must acknowledge, too, its continued active investment in the genocide in Gaza, and divest from its Israeli ties. The university must make space for Indigenous ways of thinking within its academic curricula and environment, encouraging the growth of peaceful movements that work towards true reconciliation. It is time that McGill established an Indigenous Studies major concentration, and thus redefine mainstream colonial narratives in education. First and foremost, McGill must abandon its performative activism which only leaves room for continued violence.
Each of us at McGill has a part to play as well: We must show up—to student protests and walkouts, to campus governance meetings, and on behalf of those communities threatened or killed by McGill’s continued colonial presence. We can not allow McGill to refer to colonialism as a regrettable concept of the past as they continue their colonial endeavour into the present.
