Amanda Peters with Vanessa Lillie: The Birthing Tree

The North American Indian center of Boston is located on the ancestral and unceded homelands of the Massachusetts Nation. We affirm and support efforts by our host nation to promote self-determination, health and well being.

NAICOB was originally established in 1969 as the Boston Indian Council when it served as the hub of social and civil rights activities for the American Indian/Alaska Native and First Nations Urban Indian community in Boston. The Center was reorganized as the North American Indian Center of Boston in 1991. Since then, We have provided comprehensive cultural, wellness, educational, and professional services to Native peoples in the commonwealth.

As the oldest urban Indian center in Massachusetts, Our mission is to empower the Native American community with the goal of improving the quality of life of Indigenous People.

From the bestselling author of The Berry Pickers, an unforgettable novel about a woman who must confront her family’s buried truths and memories of passionate young love when her grandmother’s death leaves her as the only guide to her community’s future
Born under the shadow of a birthing tree sacred to generations of Mi’kmaq women, Aliet Paul grows up outside a small Nova Scotia town with her fierce, loving grandmother Kiju. Her mother died bringing Aliet into the world under that very tree; her father remains a mystery no one will name. Aliet’s childhood is shaped by seasonal apple pickers, the medicinal wisdom of the old ways, and the quiet, steadfast presence of John, a boy who becomes her anchor.
But the world beyond their community is changing. Traditional midwifery is condemned, prejudice deepens, and when the wrong person witnesses a birth, the consequences are disastrous. As Aliet comes of age, she navigates love, loss, and a personal tragedy that veers her from the path her grandmother wanted for her. She becomes a nurse trained in modern medicine, yet she carries Kiju’s teachings close, tucked beside memories of the tree that once welcomed new life.
Years later, when the call comes that Kiju has died, Aliet returns home to a crumbling house, a community scattered, and a past she thought she’d outrun. As Aliet restores the house room by room, something inside her stirs awake: the threads of her lineage, the old ways of her grandmother, and the mystery of her own bloodline.
As Aliet digs to uncover who her family really is, each revelation pulls her deeper into a web of long-guarded silences, dangerous loyalties, and generational wounds that refuse to stay buried: Someone knew the truth about her mother’s final moments. Someone knew what happened in the orchard all those years ago. And someone wants the past to remain undisturbed.
Spanning decades of loss and reclamation, this sweeping yet intimate novel follows one woman’s journey to protect the land, the traditions, and the memory of the women who came before her—and to decide which parts of her inheritance she will carry into the future.

Amanda Peters is a writer of Mi’kmaq and settler ancestry. She is the bestselling author of The Berry Pickers, which won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize; the novel was also named the Best Book of the Year by Amazon,The New Yorker, and People Magazine, among others.

Vanessa Lillie is the USA Today bestselling author of seven thriller novels, including Blood Sisters and most recently, The Bone Thief, which is set in Rhode Island and focuses on the Narragansett tribe's history and modern resiliency in a twisty mystery, named among best of the year by the Washington Post. She’s the creator and coauthor of the # 1 Audible bestseller and award nominated,Young Rich Widows series, set in 1980s Providence. Originally from Oklahoma, she is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and proudly Two-Spirit, follow her on socials for great Indigenous book recommendations.

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EVENT ACCESSIBILITY

This event will take place on the second floor of Coolidge Corner Theatre, accessible by stair or elevator. Wheelchair spaces are available in the theater. ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event. Seats are general admission (first come, first served). Please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, a guaranteed seat location, a wheelchair space, or other accommodations. We will do our best to serve your needs!