Portland has sparked outrage after stripping its Christmas tree of its name, referring to it only as “the tree” during its lighting ceremony.
As thousands gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square for the city’s 41st annual tree-lighting on Friday night, leaders and speakers avoided mentioning “Christmas” at any point — including in the ceremony itself and the event’s ads.
The festive occasion was kicked off with a woman from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs thanking everyone in the crowd for coming out on Native American Heritage Day.
She introduced two younger members of the tribe, who referred to the celebration only as “the tree lighting,” before handing the microphone to another featured speaker.
Draped in a Palestinian flag, the woman used her stage time to lead the crowd in a “free Palestine” chant.
“This is the perfect time to bring this up. There are a lot of genocides going on,” she said only moments into the tree lighting ceremony.
“Can I get a ‘free, free Palestine,” she asked, which some members of the crowd were heard obliging.
She then led the crowd in the “Strong Woman Song,” performing alongside two young children and another woman, noting that it “felt appropriate since we’re representing our matriarchs up here.”
Though the event seemed to lack the usual Christmas spirit most US cities embrace during the holiday season, the city made sure to trot out a Santa Claus, who posed with families and had a “sing-along of holiday carols,” which included “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “Deck the Halls.”
Nearly an hour into the ceremony, Mayor Keith Wilson addressed the crowd and brought out Santa Claus and the city’s representatives before switching on the 10,000 bulbs on the 75-foot-tall tree.
While the ceremony appeared to go off without any incident, it did garner some criticism online.
“They can’t even say Christmas tree in Portland. They call it “the tree,’” one user wrote on X following the ceremony.
“WHY DOES everything have to be so DIVISIVE??!!” another questioned.
“It’s a Christmas tree, it’s always been a Christmas tree, and it will always be a Christmas tree,” wrote another.
“Just saw a Christmas parade in Texas and everyone was saying Merry Christmas. God bless Texas,” another user added.
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