When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance

Join Massy Arts, Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, Sean Carleton and Harsha Walia for the launch of "When the Pine Needles Fall" on Friday, November 15th at 5 pm.

**This is event is set to have high registration and so the waitlist will be activated. If it becomes sold out, please register for the waitlist and we'll invite folks as spots become available. If you register and then can't make it, we ask that you please request to cancel your spot and allow others to attend. Thank you!**

Venue & Accessibility

The event will be hosted at the Massy Arts Gallery, at 23 East Pender Street in Chinatown, Vancouver. We are located in the former MING WO building.

Registration is free or by donation and required for entry.

The gallery is wheelchair accessible and a gender-neutral washroom is on-site.

Please refrain from wearing scents or heavy perfumes.

For more on accessibility including parking, seating, venue measurements and floor plan, and how to request ASL interpretation please visit: massyarts.com/accessibility

Covid Protocols: Masks keep our community safe and are mandatory (N95 masks are recommended as they offer the best protection). We ask if you are showing symptoms, that you stay home. Thank you kindly.

About the Book: There have been many things written about Canada’s violent siege of Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawà:ke in the summer of 1990, but When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance is the first book from the perspective of Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, who was the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) spokesperson during the siege. When the Pine Needles Fall, written in a conversational style by Gabriel with historian Sean Carleton, offers an intimate look at Gabriel’s life leading up to the 1990 siege, her experiences as spokesperson for her community, and her work since then as an Indigenous land defender, human rights activist, and feminist leader.
More than just the memoir of an extraordinary individual, When the Pine Needles Fall offers insight into Indigenous language, history, and philosophy, reflections on our relationship with the land, and calls to action against both colonialism and capitalism as we face the climate crisis. Gabriel’s hopes for a decolonial future make clear why protecting Indigenous homelands is vital not only for the survival of Indigenous peoples, but for all who live on this planet.

Author Bios:

Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel is a Kanien’kehá:ka, Wakeniáhton (Turtle Clan), artist, documentarian, and Indigenous human rights and environmental rights activist living in Kanehsatà:ke Kanien’kehá:ka Homelands.

Sean Carleton is a settler historian and professor of history and Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 Territory.

Guest moderator:

Harsha Walia is a South Asian activist and writer based in Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish Territories. She has been involved in community-based grassroots migrant justice, feminist, anti-racist, Indigenous solidarity, anti-capitalist, Palestinian liberation, and anti-imperialist movements, including No One is Illegal and Women’s Memorial March Committee.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Massy Arts Society, 23 East Pender Street, Vancouver, Canada