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The Story Behind the Story Permalink

less than 1 minute read

Steven T. Newcomb recalls meeting Oglala Lakota educator Birgil Kills Straight in March 1992, and how the two began their call for the Pope to revoke the papal bull Inter Caetera of May 4, 1493.

Animal Nations and the Doctrine of Discovery

18 minute read

Democracy: “Democracy didn’t come across on the Mayflower. Indeed not. Nor with the Niña nor Santa Maria. Certainly not. Democracy was here. It was in full f...

The Carleton Papers project Permalink

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Having been given an exciting opportunity to project manage the cataloguing of the Carleton Papers (record series PRO 30/55), since September 2016 I have bee...

Indigenous Craft Fair Permalink

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We invite everyone to visit the Indigenous Peoples Craft Fair on 17 April 2024 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM on the Eighth Floor of the Church Center of the United...

Destroying the Doctrine of Discovery

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Robert J. Miller examines the Doctrine of Discovery’s continuing effects and outlines five strategies for dismantling its influence on Indigenous rights.

Disavowing the Doctrine of Discovery Permalink

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Anti-Micronesian bias and colonialism are harming efforts to protect and manage waters surrounding U.S. overseas territories in the Pacific Islands. The Bide...

Domination Chronicles Permalink

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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 ...

Indigenous People’s Day Festival Permalink

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Onondaga Nation – On Sunday, October 13, 2024, join Onondaga community members, Tsha’ Thoñ’nhes management, We of Italian and Syracuse Heritage in CNY, and N...

Dismantling ‘kind’ colonialism Permalink

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“Kind colonialism” operates on the false idea that colonisation is necessary, beneficial, and inevitable. The reason it became the dominant form of colonisat...

Lies of Discovery Permalink

16 minute read

In 2016 the Vatican, recognizing the need to understand Indigenous religious protocols, invited Indigenous spiritual leaders from around the world to Rome. O...

A Right of Discovery? Permalink

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Steven T. Newcomb traces Chief Justice Marshall’s “right of discovery” in Johnson v. McIntosh back to the 1496 Letters Patent to John Cabot and its command to subjugate, occupy, and possess.

An Original Nations’ Examination of “Freedom,” “Human” and “Human Rights”

43 minute read

This essay reveals why, from an Original Nations’ Perspective, the term “human,” in the Greco-Roman-Judeo-Christian sense, as traced to the Vatican papal bulls of the fifteenth century, means “living under domination,” which in turn changes our understanding of the term “freedom.” We will explain why the international framework of human rights is not designed to liberate Peoples from the claim of a right of domination.

Book Review of The Urgency of Indigenous Values Permalink

1 minute read

What is a way forward in the midst of the environmental and ecological crisis? How does religious studies engage with Indigenous Peoples? Philip P. Arnold explores these two different but interrelated questions in The Urgency of Indigenous Values, which offers an alternative perspective on religion that shifts away from a settler-colonial worldview to better affirm Indigenous values.

Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery: A Wakaga Sovereignty Series Permalink

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Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery: A Wakaga Sovereignty Series is a multi-article initiative by the Wakaga Economic Development Group examining how the centuries-old Doctrine of Christian Discovery still shapes federal Indian law and impacts tribal sovereignty today. Drawing on the research of Steven T. Newcomb, this 100+ article series explores the doctrine’s colonial origins, its influence on landmark Supreme Court decisions, and its continuing effect on U.S. Indian policy and Wakaga governance. Designed as a resource for tribal members, educators, policymakers, youth, and allies, the series combines historical analysis with practical insights to challenge the legacy of domination embedded in U.S. law and foster informed action toward true sovereignty.

Domination Chronicles: Trailer Permalink

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Steven Newcomb and Peter d’Errico introduce Domination Chronicles, a podcast focused on domination, discovery, law, language, and Indigenous free existence.

Examining the Doctrine of Discovery in Religion and Indigenous Studies Permalink

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Since the publication of Pagans in the Promised Land by Steven T. Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape), scholarship on the Doctrine of Discovery has expanded significantly as a central issue in Indigenous law and politics. However, its implications remain underexamined in Religious Studies, Indigenous Studies, and legal scholarship. This article analyzes the matrix of enslavement, exploitation, and extraction that Newcomb identifies within settler-colonial systems and examines how scholars in Religious Studies, Legal Studies, and Indigenous Studies have engaged with the Doctrine of Discovery. Situating the Doctrine of Discovery within the broader analytical frameworks of enslavement, systemic violence, and religious imperialism reveals its deep entanglement with historic and legal structures of oppression. Examining its intersections with Religious Studies and postcolonial scholarship uncover how white Christian hegemony maintains its dominion and exposes the fragility of any perceived boundary between church and state.

Haaland v. Brackeen and the Logic of Discovery Permalink

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The ICWA was enacted to protect Indigenous sovereignty, but the Brackeens argued that its preference to Native American families in the fostering and adoption of Native American children amounts to racial discrimination, an argument the court did not substantively address because it judged the Brackeens lacked standing.

Cutting Through the US Claim of a Right of Domination over Indigenous People: An Analysis of Haaland v. Brackeen Permalink

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Haaland v. Brackeen is a 2023 US Supreme Court decision rejecting several challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a federal law establishing a framework to control adoptions of any child who is “a member of an Indian tribe” or who is “eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe.”

Halverson v. Burgum Permalink

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A 2025 Ninth Circuit decision that shows how Johnson v. McIntosh and sovereign immunity remain active in contemporary federal Indian law.

An Upcoming Fifty-Year Retrospective (1977-2027) Permalink

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In 1977, forty-eight years ago, the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) submitted an intervention (a formal document) to the International NGO Conference On Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations. The conference convened in Geneva, Switzerland from September 20-23rd at the Palais des Nations, the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Healing the Sacred: The Fight to Restore Onondaga Lake and Honor Indigenous Land Permalink

1 minute read

The Onondaga Nation is petitioning the Organization of American States (OAS) for land rights to Onondaga Lake, a notoriously polluted body of water in Central New York State. The Onondaga Nation is one of six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois), and Onondaga Lake is the sacred site where Gayanashagowa, the Great Law of Peace, was established.

Before Religion Permalink

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It is a classic misinterpretation to refer to all Natives as always being in harmony with themselves and their surroundings. As in, categorizing. Outcome.

Contributors Permalink

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Contributors This Content This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous sovereignty, law, religion, and historical accountability.

DEAR AUTOCRAT(S) Permalink

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We never strived to be your equals Or fought for that sameness of identity There was no reason for uprising Against your anthropocentric prototyped pattern.

Table of Contents Permalink

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Article Table of Content This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous sovereignty, law, religion, and historical accountability…

Toward a Kinder Future Permalink

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The Church needs to make commitments to undo the damage of instilling white superiority beliefs. Churches worldwide can be part of a campaign to change the.

What is the Doctrine of Discovery? Permalink

1 minute read

Papal Bulls of the 15th century gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they ‘discovered’ and lay claim to those lands for their Christian Monarchs.

Manifest Destiny Permalink

1 minute read

Manifest Destiny is a nineteenth century term designating an expansionist ideology grounded in the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and republican ideals.

Sublimis Deus (Sublimis Dei) Permalink

1 minute read

On the limits of Sublimis Deus (also called Sublimis Dei). This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive context. Archive context.

Introduction Permalink

1 minute read

Introduction to a global volume on Christian Discovery, linking law, religion, and pedagogy, with Indigenous sovereignty and decolonial justice today.

Reflections on the Erie Canal [FULL DOCUMENTARY] Permalink

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In 1825, the state of New York completed the Erie Canal. Today, the singular historic purpose of the canal has been replaced by a broader significance. Together, the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca canals serve communities in ways unimaginable to their creators. Now, we reflect on the two-hundred year journey of the Erie Canal and contemplate its future.

Revoke the Papal Bulls Permalink

44 minute read

In response to the Papal Bulls issued 530 years ago today and tomorrow (3 and 4 May 1493): Indigenous Law Institute and Original Nations Advocates “Revoke the Papal Bulls” A View-from-the-Shore Analysis of the Vatican’s 30 March 2023 Statement on the Doctrine of Discovery

THE HAUDENOSAUNEE (IROQUOIS) GREAT BINDING PEACE Permalink

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What kind of worldview or religious orientation does it take to make an entire planet uninhabitable? While many think it is our dependence on fossil fuels and the population explosion that has brought us to this point of human destruction, our contention is that these problems have religious foundations which were created and continue to be used by empires as a means to hold dominion over people and the Earth. Opposition to this path of selfdestruction is something Indigenous Peoples have been trying to communicate since first contact, to not jeopardize their traditions of regenerative reciprocity which had thrived for tens of thousands of years.

Manifest Destiny

16 minute read

Manifest Destiny is a nineteenth-century term designating an expansionist ideology grounded in the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and republican ideals that...

New Book: In The Court of the Conqueror

3 minute read

ANNOUNCEMENT Artists’ Book Release Details - In the Court of the Conqueror featuring Patty Ortiz with George Emilio Sanchez - Curator & Editor, Cydney Pa...

On the Papal Bull, Sublimis Deus Permalink

1 minute read

The bull Sublimis Deus was not retroactive. It could not be projected back in time. It could not remove the death, destruction, and dehumanization that the H...

The Original Cancel Culture Permalink

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The idea that Chief Wahoo is somehow honoring Indigenous peoples and his removal is cancel culture is not only absurd but is the reinforcement of the mindset...

CrossCurrents Vol. 74. No. 4. Special Issue: 200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism Permalink

1 minute read

In 2022 Syracuse University received a Henry Luce Foundation grant to support the work of Philip P. Arnold and the Indigenous Values Initiative’s Doctrine of Discovery Project We received three years of funding for ‘200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism.’ This grant and project has been a collaborative initiative made possible through relationships developed over 30 years between academic and Indigenous communities. At its core, the project seeks to interrogate and critically examine connections between the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DoCD), the Catholic Papal Bulls that undergird the Doctrine, and the Doctrine’s pernicious influence on United States Indian Law today.

Tadodaho on language

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“They severed our tongues so we couldn’t speak our language then punished us for not being able to speak it.” - Tadodaho

Reappraising the Doctrine of Discovery

11 minute read

The European doctrine of discovery principle, recognized as recently as 1986 by a federal district court as a legal fiction, nevertheless remains one of the ...

The theft of the commons Permalink

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In North America, it’s often assumed that private land ownership not only existed in colonizing cultures but was also universally accepted. Yet English commo...

World Water One Permalink

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Ten years since the First Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery International Conference held at Arizona State University West on April 19-20, 2013, the Cont...

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Podcast

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Faith-Communities

Christian Reformed Church

less than 1 minute read

Read the Christian Reformed Church statement repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery.

Community of Christ

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Read the Community of Christ statement repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery.

Quakers

less than 1 minute read

Read the Quakers statement repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery.

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Repudiations

Christian Reformed Church

less than 1 minute read

Read the Christian Reformed Church statement repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery.

Community of Christ

less than 1 minute read

Read the Community of Christ statement repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery.

Quakers

less than 1 minute read

Read the Quakers statement repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery.

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Law

Nations Are Sovereign: They Are Not ‘Tribes’

1 minute read

Joseph Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation, explains why the Haudenosaunee reject the colonial term ‘tribe’ and insist on recognition as sovereign, independent Nations under international law.

Onondaga Nation Land Rights Complaint

1 minute read

The Onondaga People wish to bring about a healing between themselves and all others who live in this region that has been the homeland of the Onondaga Nation...

Ottawa v. Logan

20 minute read

the Indian tribes who have a right to those lands are quietly to enjoy them, hunting, planting and dwelling thereon so long as they please, without any moles...

Treaty of Tordesillas

22 minute read

The Treaty of Tordesillas was concluded on June 7 1494 to settle the contentious matter of the possession of the newly discovered lands of the non Christian ...

Cayuga v. Pataki

less than 1 minute read

We understand Sherrill to hold that equitable doctrines, such as laches, acquiescence, and impossibility, can in appropriate circumstances, be applied to Ind...

Fletcher v. Peck, 10 US 87 (1810)

less than 1 minute read

What is Indian title?  It is a mere occupancy for the purpose of hunting.  It is not like our tenures, they have no idea of a title to the soil itself.  It i...

Monroe Doctrine

5 minute read

Excerpts from President James Monroe’s seventh annual message to Congress, December 2, 1823.

Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida

less than 1 minute read

We have used the term “laches” here, as did the district court and this Court in Cayuga, as a convenient shorthand for the equitable principles at stake in t...

Onondaga Nation v. NY

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This appeal is decided on the basis of the equitable bar on recovery of ancestral lands in Sherrill, and this Court’s cases of Cayuga and Oneida. Three speci...

Roosevelt Corollary

2 minute read

Roosevelt asserted that European nations should not intervene in countries to the south of the US, however under certain conditions, United States interventi...

TEE-HIT-TON

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Every America schoolboy knows that the savage tribes of this continent were deprived of their ancestral ranges by force and that, even when the Indians ceded...

White v. Univ. of Cal.

less than 1 minute read

Aboriginal interest in land generally is described as a tribe’s right to occupy the land.

Johnson v. M’Intosh

82 minute read

The Indians were admitted to be the rightful occupants of the soil, with a legal as well as just claim to retain possession of it, and to use it according to...

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Resources

Nations Are Sovereign: They Are Not ‘Tribes’

1 minute read

Joseph Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation, explains why the Haudenosaunee reject the colonial term ‘tribe’ and insist on recognition as sovereign, independent Nations under international law.

Resources by Peter d’Errico

less than 1 minute read

Replacing the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

Study Group

1 minute read

The Doctrine of Discovery has had profoundly negative impacts on Indigenous Peoples for the last 500+ years. Governments and various organizations have used ...

Videos

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Films on the Doctrine of Discovery

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domination

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Event

Roots of Peacemaking

3 minute read

2009 event archive ‘Roots of Peacemaking: Indigenous Values, Global Crisis’ is the first in an ongoing series of events that include conferences, cultural ex...

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Education

Nations Are Sovereign: They Are Not ‘Tribes’

1 minute read

Joseph Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation, explains why the Haudenosaunee reject the colonial term ‘tribe’ and insist on recognition as sovereign, independent Nations under international law.

Domination and the Murder of George Floyd

less than 1 minute read

In CounterPunch, Shawnee/Lenape scholar Steve Newcomb connects anti-blackness and racism to the domination and dehumanization of the Doctrine of Discovery.

Resources by Peter d’Errico

less than 1 minute read

Replacing the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

Videos

less than 1 minute read

Films on the Doctrine of Discovery

What is the Doctrine of Discovery?

1 minute read

Papal Bulls of the 15th century gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they ‘discovered’ and lay claim to those lands for their Christian Monarchs...

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News

Haudenosaunee Democracy

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Academics, attorneys and religious leaders from as far away as Chile gathered at this site sacred to members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to discuss the ...

Domination and the Murder of George Floyd

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In CounterPunch, Shawnee/Lenape scholar Steve Newcomb connects anti-blackness and racism to the domination and dehumanization of the Doctrine of Discovery.

RNS article about the conference

less than 1 minute read

The way Steven T. Newcomb describes the Doctrine of Discovery these days is ‘a claim of a right of Christian domination.’ It was first expressed by Pope Nich...

Roots of Peacemaking

3 minute read

2009 event archive ‘Roots of Peacemaking: Indigenous Values, Global Crisis’ is the first in an ongoing series of events that include conferences, cultural ex...

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jcreor

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podcast

CrossCurrents Vol. 74. No. 4. Special Issue: 200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism Permalink

1 minute read

In 2022 Syracuse University received a Henry Luce Foundation grant to support the work of Philip P. Arnold and the Indigenous Values Initiative’s Doctrine of Discovery Project We received three years of funding for ‘200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism.’ This grant and project has been a collaborative initiative made possible through relationships developed over 30 years between academic and Indigenous communities. At its core, the project seeks to interrogate and critically examine connections between the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DoCD), the Catholic Papal Bulls that undergird the Doctrine, and the Doctrine’s pernicious influence on United States Indian Law today.

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Special

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Papal-Bulls

Dum Diversas

1 minute read

Papal Bull Dum Diversas 18 June, 1452

Requerimiento

5 minute read

Spanish conquistadors read this document, composed in 1510, to Indians of the new world. It briefly explains Spain’s assertion of its legal and moral right t...

Treaty of Tordesillas

22 minute read

The Treaty of Tordesillas was concluded on June 7 1494 to settle the contentious matter of the possession of the newly discovered lands of the non Christian ...

What is the Doctrine of Discovery?

1 minute read

Papal Bulls of the 15th century gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they ‘discovered’ and lay claim to those lands for their Christian Monarchs...

Inter Caetera

6 minute read

The Papal Bull Inter Caetera of May 4, 1493

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Catholic

Dum Diversas

1 minute read

Papal Bull Dum Diversas 18 June, 1452

Requerimiento

5 minute read

Spanish conquistadors read this document, composed in 1510, to Indians of the new world. It briefly explains Spain’s assertion of its legal and moral right t...

Treaty of Tordesillas

22 minute read

The Treaty of Tordesillas was concluded on June 7 1494 to settle the contentious matter of the possession of the newly discovered lands of the non Christian ...

Inter Caetera

6 minute read

The Papal Bull Inter Caetera of May 4, 1493

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Indigenous-Peoples

Nations Are Sovereign: They Are Not ‘Tribes’

1 minute read

Joseph Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation, explains why the Haudenosaunee reject the colonial term ‘tribe’ and insist on recognition as sovereign, independent Nations under international law.

State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

1 minute read

It was also suggested the report be a key advocacy tool for raising awareness on indigenous peoples’ issues in general and in particular to raise the profile...

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S01

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United-Nations

Nations Are Sovereign: They Are Not ‘Tribes’

1 minute read

Joseph Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation, explains why the Haudenosaunee reject the colonial term ‘tribe’ and insist on recognition as sovereign, independent Nations under international law.

State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

1 minute read

It was also suggested the report be a key advocacy tool for raising awareness on indigenous peoples’ issues in general and in particular to raise the profile...

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S03

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law

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river

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haudenosaunee

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marshall-trilogy

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Religion

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quote

Tadodaho on language

less than 1 minute read

“They severed our tongues so we couldn’t speak our language then punished us for not being able to speak it.” - Tadodaho

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Videos

Videos

less than 1 minute read

Films on the Doctrine of Discovery

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review

A Comment on Making All the World America

9 minute read

Peter d’Errico comments on Timothy Bowers Vasko’s Making All the World America: Native Information and the Doctrine of Discovery (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026), in conversation with Steven T. Newcomb’s review.

Book Review of Making All the World America

13 minute read

Steven T. Newcomb reviews Timothy Bowers Vasko’s Making All the World America: Native Information and the Doctrine of Discovery (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026).

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doctrine-of-discovery

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papal-bulls

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papal-documents

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dominance

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ships

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vatican-city

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francis

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pope

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responses

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joint-statement-responses

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podcasts

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redpaper

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Resource

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religionlab

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Episcopal

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resource

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Christian

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main

What is the Doctrine of Discovery?

1 minute read

Papal Bulls of the 15th century gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they ‘discovered’ and lay claim to those lands for their Christian Monarchs...

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resources

What is the Doctrine of Discovery?

1 minute read

Papal Bulls of the 15th century gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they ‘discovered’ and lay claim to those lands for their Christian Monarchs...

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US

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