Acknowledging the Doctrine of Christian Domination
Since the doctrine of discovery has been institutionalized in U.S. Indian law and policy for generations, including by the U.S. Supreme Court, the question a...
Steven T. NewcombSteven Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape) is the co-founder and director of the Indigenous Law Institute, and author of _Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery _(Fulcrum, 2008). He co-produced the documentary movie “The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code” (2015), which is based on Pagans and his four decades of research.
Steven T. Newcomb
The Story Behind the Story
In March 1992, at the Peace and the Planet Symposium in Eugene, Oregon, Steven T. Newcomb walked up to a table where Oglala Lakota educator Birgil Kills Stra...
Johnson v. M’Intosh and the Missing Cover of the Jigsaw Puzzle
Given that this interpretive work involves words and ideas, and not physical puzzle pieces, we as Native scholars face an interesting challenge: How do we ta...
Domination Chronicles
Greetings Friends and Relatives, I’m excited to announce the roll out of paid subscriptions, which I declined to do for our first year. However, many of you ...
The Domination Translator Series: An Extended Essay on Various U.S. Supreme Court Rulings and Other Topics - Part 1
How did the U.S. justify ‘ultimate dominion’ over Native nations and lands? This series examines the Doctrine of Discovery in Supreme Court rulings.
Fletcher v. Peck (1810) - Domination Translator Series - Part 2
The Fletcher v. Peck case examined whether the U.S. courts would recognize Indian title to land, and how colonial charters justified domination.
The Haudenosaunee Cases: Cayuga Indian Nation v. Pataki (2nd Cir. June 28, 2005) - Domination Translator Series - Part 11
Cayuga Nation v. Pataki (2005) explored Haudenosaunee land claims and the suppressed 1922 Everett Report on Native treaty rights.
The Haudenosaunee Cases: Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida (Aug. 9th 2010) - Domination Translator Series - Part 12
Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida (2010) examined equitable defenses used to bar Native land claims spanning centuries.
The Haudenosaunee Cases: Onondaga Nation v. N.Y. (Argued Oct. 12, 2012, decided October 19, 2012) - Domination Translator Series - Part 13
Onondaga Nation’s lawsuit to recover ancestral lands was dismissed using federal Indian law doctrines based on discovery and domination.
U.S. v. King Mountain Tobacco Co., Inc. (9th Cir. Court, August 13, 2012) - Domination Translator Series - Part 15
U.S. v. King Mountain Tobacco (2012) asserted federal excise tax authority over Yakama Nation based on plenary power doctrine.
The Marshall Trilogy: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) - Domination Translator Series - Part 4
In 1831, the Cherokee Nation sought Supreme Court protection from Georgia’s laws designed to annihilate their political existence.
The Marshall Trilogy: Johnson v. McIntosh, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 543 (1823) - Domination Translator Series - Part 3
The 1823 landmark Johnson v. McIntosh case established the Doctrine of Discovery as U.S. law, denying Native nations’ property rights.
The Marshall Trilogy: Worcester v. Georgia (1832) - Domination Translator Series - Part 5
The 1832 Worcester v. Georgia ruling protected Native nations from state laws, yet affirmed federal domination under the Doctrine of Discovery.
Martin v. Waddell (1842) - Domination Translator Series - Part 7
Martin v. Waddell (1842) applied the Doctrine of Discovery to oyster beds, asserting European discovery gave absolute property rights.
McGirt v. Oklahoma (U.S. Supreme Court, July 2020) - Domination Translator Series - Part 14
McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) upheld Creek Nation jurisdiction while affirming federal plenary power based on the Doctrine of Discovery.
President “Teddy” Roosevelt’s Monroe Doctrine Corollary - Domination Translator Series - Part 8
Teddy Roosevelt’s 1904 Monroe Doctrine Corollary asserted U.S. imperial dominion over the Western Hemisphere and its indigenous peoples.
Tee Hit Ton Indians v. United States (1955) - Domination Translator Series - Part 9
Tee Hit Ton v. U.S. (1955) denied Native peoples compensation for lands taken by the U.S. government under the Doctrine of Discovery.
The Monroe Doctrine (1823) - Domination Translator Series - Part 6
The Monroe Doctrine (1823) extended U.S. claims of ‘ultimate dominion’ over the Western Hemisphere, following the Doctrine of Discovery.
White v. University of California (9th Cir., 2014) - Domination Translator Series - Part 10
UC professors attempted to prevent repatriation of Kumeyaay Nation ancestral remains, invoking tribal sovereignty immunity doctrines.
An Exorcism, Junipero Serra, and the Papal Bulls
Archbishop Cordileone said his ceremony was intended to drive out evil and defend the image of Serra.
Johnson v McIntosh & the Mental World of Domination A Brief Video by Steven Newcomb and William Laronal, Jr.
Transcript PDF
A Right of Discovery?
The phrase “the doctrine of discovery” never appears in the 1823 Johnson v. McIntosh ruling. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote instead of “the right of disco...
An Original Nations’ Examination of “Freedom,” “Human” and “Human Rights”
Some Reflections for the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, Illinois, August 14-18, 2023
Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery: A Wakaga Sovereignty Series
Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery: A Wakaga Sovereignty Series is a multi-article initiative by the Wakaga Economic Development Group examining ho...
The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code; with Live Q & A
Join us for a deep dive into The Doctrine of Discovery film and uncover the hidden truths behind the Domination Code in our live Q&A session
Joint Statement to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
From the Long March to Rome Gathering
A Comment On NARF’s Amicus Curiae Brief Filed on Behalf of the National Congress of American Indians and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona, LLC, in Support of the Tohono O’odham Nation
On September 23, 2026, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) filed an amicus curiae brief in the D.C. Circuit on behalf of the National Congress of American...
Revoke the Papal Bulls
In response to the Papal Bulls issued
Oak Flat and Pope Alexander VI’s Papal Decree of Domination in U.S. Law
Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) Prior to the invasion of this continent (“North America”) by representatives of the monarchs of Western Christendom, the orig...
Conflicting Perspectives Regarding the Holy Mountain Called 'San Francisco Peaks,' and Other Sacred and Significant Places of Original Nations and Traditional Healers
Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape)
The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law: The Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. McIntosh, and Plenary Power
Newcomb, Steven T. “The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law: The Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. McIntosh, and Plenary Power.” NYU Rev....
“Revoke the Papal Bulls”: Our Response to the Vatican’s March 30 Statement on the Doctrine of Discovery
Let us set the context for this discussion. The context begins with the free existence of our Native nations and peoples, extending back to the beginning of ...
Podcast🎙️ Stealing Land in the Name of God
What’s a 15th-century statement from a pope have to do with U.S. land policy today?
The U.S. Government’s Claim of a Right of Domination
Joseph Story is regarded as a genius and a giant in the legal profession. His continuing influence on American law was demonstrated for me some years ago whe...
What Fifteenth-Century Papal Bulls Can Teach Us About Indigenous Identity
Whether the intent of domination expressed by that language is part of “official Church teachings” is irrelevant in my view. What is relevant is that, throug...
Pagans in the Promised Land: a Primer on Religious Freedom
Significant aspects of this research were published in the New York University Review of Law & Social Change (Vol. 20, Number 2, 1993), “The Evidence of ...
Domination and the Murder of George Floyd
In CounterPunch, Shawnee/Lenape scholar Steve Newcomb connects anti-blackness and racism to the domination and dehumanization of the Doctrine of Discovery.
Book Review of Making All the World America
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The Biblical Basis of Federal Indian Law Policy
As bizarre as it may seem, today’s federal definitions of Indian title and Indian nationhood find their basis in the Old Testament covenant tradition. This t...
The Doctrine of Discovery, Unmasking The Domination Code
The first Christian people to locate lands inhabited by non-Christians (‘infidels, heathens, and savages’) claimed the right to assert a right of domination ...
198 Years of Domination: Screening of _The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code_ with Panel
A Screening Of The Domination Code followed by an incredible panel discussion with Sheldon Wolfchild (Dakota), Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape), Buffy Sainte ...