Official launch for Gabriel book 

Thirty-four years to the day after the Siege of Kanehsatake came to an end, supporters packed into an old church in downtown Montreal for the release of Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel’s latest work, a book titled When The Pine Needles Fall, co-authored by Sean Carleton.

“When the pine needles fall in the fall, like they are right now, they blanket the earth in red,” Gabriel told an audience member who asked about the inspiration for the title of her book.

“If the municipality of Oka and their private investors had been successful in cutting down the over 200 year old pine forest that we grew up in, that is our mother in a sense, those pine needles would be gone,” she said. “The pine needles are a symbol of the land, and our resistance to protect the last vestige of common land that we have in that municipality.”

There wasn’t an empty seat available in the church known as Espace JAX, where the book launch took place. For almost two hours, Gabriel and Carleton answered questions about the story behind the text and the process of writing, in a panel moderated by Gabriel’s close friend Samir Shaheen-Hussain, a pediatric doctor and activist, and her cousin, Wanda Gabriel.

Wanda introduced the panel, and shared with audience members the importance of Ellen’s words being immortalized in the book. She said that as Ellen’s younger cousin she had always looked up to her, but more so than ever throughout the Siege of Kanehsatake, when Ellen was put forward as the spokesperson for the community.

“Throughout that summer I looked upon her with my four young children, and we were always, always in awe of the powerful words that came out of her mouth to protect our land and defend our fight,” she said. “I don’t think Canada was ready for such a strong resistance and such a powerful woman. I don’t think they were ready for us fighting back to defend our land.”

Throughout the evening, Ellen discussed what happened during the Siege of Kanehsatake, and why she wanted to write the book now.

The book is written in the form of transcribed snippets of conversations between Ellen and Carleton, who is a settler historian who teaches at the University of Manitoba. He said that many years ago, he had asked Ellen what the legacy of 1990 was – and had learned about 300 years of history in her response.

“In many ways, this book is a larger version of that initial question, and tracing of all of these different aspects and all of those 300 years of history that led Ellen to be in the position that she was in the summer of 1990,” Carleton said. “Ellen very candidly talks about it in the book that the legacy of 1990 is mixed.”

The book also outlines many of Ellen’s thoughts about the future, especially for youth.

“I think that it’s honouring being a human to share your knowledge with others. I’ve been fortunate to have so many good teachers that taught me along the way,” she said. “If I can be a teacher to youth, I welcome that. If I can teach somebody my age or older, I welcome that as well…I think teaching is just a beautiful way to be a human being.”

Ellen even gave away a free copy of the book to the first audience member who could guess her age in 1990, and was bemused with several responses before the correct answer (31) came.

She and Carleton also signed books for a long line of attendees that trailed all the way to the door of the church after the event, all of whom were eager to meet the authors.

At the evening’s closing, Wanda shared a personal moment with Ellen.

“Ellen has taken a lot of heat for speaking the truth and for the action she took in our community to protect our ancestors and protect our Pines, and our community has never said thank you,” Wanda said. “I just want to say it from the bottom of my heart. Niawenhkó:wa for your strong words and convictions and standing strong all these years. I don’t know where we would be in Kanesatake if you didn’t take the stance that you took.”

When The Pine Needles Fall is in bookstores and online now.

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