How did the world come to be? How did humans come to be? What is the origin of all living beings? The myth-history of who we are begins with the creation sto...
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...
How did the world come to be? How did humans come to be? What is the origin of all living beings? The myth history of who we are begins with the creation.
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.
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...
When the Vatican finally comes to the realization it is mired in the genocidal mud of centuries of racist exploitation of Indigenous peoples around the world...
Sandy Bigtree & Philip Arnold - The Religious Origins of White Supremacy Today’s discussion is one of profound importance, and I am honored to speak with...
The Doctrine of Discovery is a legal and religious concept that has been used for centuries to justify Christian colonial conquest. It advanced the idea that...
The presentation of the settlements process as a means for settling the grievances caused by violations of Te Tiriti o Waitangi has more problematic repercus...
In this light, I fear that the Brackeen lawsuit is the first in a row of dominoes — if the Court strikes down ICWA, everything else could soon go with it.&qu...
One of the striking features of chief justice John Marshall’s articulation of the Doctrine of Discovery is the assertion that Indigenous sovereignty and righ...
Johnson v. M’Intosh was a land dispute, where multiple parties brought competing claims of title. Marshall boiled the case down to one question: can an India...
"[Tonya] Gonella Frichner, Robert Williams, Jr., Joseph J. Heath, and Peter P. d’Errico have sounded a clarion call for the rescinding and repudiating o...
Chief Justice Marshall constructed federal anti-Indian law in three early nineteenth-century cases. First came Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), a property law dec...
This international law, called the Doctrine of Discovery today, is made up of ten distinct elements. Common law courts dissect crimes and torts into their un...
In 1823, Chief Justice John Marshall based the supposed right of colonizing forces to dominate and take ownership of the land on what he viewed as the natura...
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...
Johnson v. M’Intosh established the precedent that the federal government of the United States had the sole right to negotiate with and extinguish indigenous...
English imperial adventurism did not begin with Alexander. It began with [King] Henry [VII] skirting or directly contradicting Inter caetera. Henry would not...
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...
Ithaca, NY- On Sunday, Feb 4th, over 400 Haudenosaunee and US citizens celebrated Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga) culture, the local traditional community, and the ne...
JCRT publishes the second of two special issues from the 2023 Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery Conference, with scholarship on history, law, and justice.
The Doctrine of Discovery (DoD) has a well-documented and researched connection to the colonization of Turtle Island. Its ideology, however, reaches far beyo...
Ilianna Murphy, a junior at Simpson College who attended the conference, said her biggest takeaway is the importance of listening more to Indigenous people a...
JCRT publishes the first of two special issues from the 2023 Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery Conference, with scholarship on history, law, and justice.
I wanted to get some thoughts written in a place where I could share them, but this post only scratches the surface of what I heard and experienced. One pers...
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...
Philip P Arnold, a professor of religious studies at Syracuse University and the founding director of Skä·noñh — Great Law of Peace Center, was interviewed o...
Robert J. Miller examines the Doctrine of Discovery’s continuing effects and outlines five strategies for dismantling its influence on Indigenous rights.
As we head into the Academy Awards this weekend, we should visit Leonardo DiCaprio’s acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards on 10 January, which conclu...
Anti-Micronesian bias and colonialism are harming efforts to protect and manage waters surrounding U.S. overseas territories in the Pacific Islands. The Bide...
Beginning in 2014, University Chancellor Kent Syverud initiated several measures honoring the Haudenosaunee. One of the measures is the University’s policy o...
Conventional wisdom holds that the Doctrine of Discovery originated with a series of papal bulls issued by several 15th-Century popes. But it is unlikely tha...
The “Doctrine of Christian Discovery” podcast—produced in collaboration with Syracuse University and Indigenous Values Initiative—explores how a 15th-century...
In the 1823 decision of Johnson v. M’Intosh, Chief Justice John Marshall formulated the international law of colonialism. Known as the Doctrine of Discovery,...
Why is it important? The Doctrine of Discovery is still an important legal concept in Canada today even though it was written hundreds of years ago. Both Fre...
To really understand the American landscape, you need to know about the Doctrine of Discovery. As a set of principles used to justify European colonization, ...
It was an ordinary evening on October 9, 2018 when, scrolling down my mouse wheel randomly looking at posts on Facebook something suddenly caught my attentio...
As our people march upon government to call for the honouring of our treaty, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the words of Moana Jackson are more poignant, and powerful...
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 ...
On September 8, 2021 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) voted to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery by adopting Motion 048, now Resolu...
With the majority of the country now joining forces with the Black Lives Matter Movement, we have a chance to pause and revisit a very important time in hist...
This article is presented as a two-part series examining the structural limitations of Australia’s native title system and its entanglement with colonial legal authority, extractive capitalism, and the denial of Indigenous sovereignty.
This article is presented as a two-part series examining the structural limitations of Australia’s native title system and its entanglement with colonial legal authority, extractive capitalism, and the denial of Indigenous sovereignty.
Consent is a fundamental Indigenous right that exists in a reciprocal relationship with all other Indigenous rights. However, the role of consent is especial...
The conversation I am much more interested in, and that I feel is important to have – is an open, and frank conversation about the role Christianity has play...
Indigenous resistance to colonial frameworks in settler-colonial states like Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Australia reveals an enduring tension between the desire for self-determination and the constraints of colonial structures.
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...
Comments delivered as part of the “Virtual Consultation on Legal Framework: Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief,” held June 22,...
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, initiates a critical conversation within the United Nations sy...
The present report is the input provided by the Indigenous Values Initiative (IVI) and American Indian Law Alliance (AILA) in response to the new report draf...
“Kind colonialism” operates on the false idea that colonisation is necessary, beneficial, and inevitable. The reason it became the dominant form of colonisat...
From Land Theft To Land Back The OAS And The Onondaga Nation Land Rights Action -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Doctrine of Discovery Initiative announces the launch of a 15-part extended essay examining how the Doctrine of Discovery has shaped U.S. legal history t...
Miller, Robert J. “The International Law of Colonialism: Johnson v. M’Intosh and the Doctrine of Discovery Applied Worldwide.” Tribal Law Journal 23, 1 (2024).
The Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Domination comprises a worldview and promotes the legal and moral authority justifying the invasion and conquest of n...
In 2016 the Vatican, recognizing the need to understand Indigenous religious protocols, invited Indigenous spiritual leaders from around the world to Rome. O...
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.
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.
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.
Onondaga Creek, muddied by more than 100 years of pollution, may soon flow with a renewed glimmer under the care of its original protectors, the Onondaga Nat...
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.
The Doctrine of Christian Discovery is a series of fifteenth-century papal bulls that served as the theological and legal justification for the colonization ...
Steven Newcomb and Peter d’Errico introduce Domination Chronicles, a podcast focused on domination, discovery, law, language, and Indigenous free existence.
Steven Newcomb and Peter d’Errico explore how symbols, monuments, seals, and public images participate in creating and preserving domination realities.
Steve Newcomb and Peter d’Errico discuss a Supreme Court dissent that challenges plenary power and opens questions about federal domination over Native nations.
Domination Chronicles examines Tee-Hit-Ton v. United States and the doctrine of Christian discovery as legal fiction serving racial segregation and land theft.
In his address during the Erie Canal Centennial Celebration in 1926, Dr. John H. Finley remarked that the Canal’s economic benefits, though immense, were out...
Sitting amid this background before a congressional hearing, Reagan’s secretary of the interior James G. Watt was asked if he would protect wildernesses for ...
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.
A Washington Supreme Court case used by Domination Chronicles to examine the limits of criticizing racist legal language while preserving domination doctrine.
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.
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.”
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.
Nine Years Ago Today, on May 4th, 2016, We Met Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square, and Archbishop Silvano Tomasi at the Pontifical Council For Justice and Peace
Steven T. Newcomb examines the contradictions in the Native American Rights Fund’s amicus brief opposing construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall on the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
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.
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.
It is a classic misinterpretation to refer to all Natives as always being in harmony with themselves and their surroundings. As in, categorizing. Outcome.
Brett and Hill review several books, including The Urgency of Indigenous Values by Philip P. Arnold It points readers to the Outcome archive for context.
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.
Greetings to you all. I’m Haiwhagai’i, Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan. I have to start off with gratitude for seeing all of your faces here. It is a bit awkward.
The primary visual sources depicting the treatment of Indigenous peoples by conquerors, particularly the works of Protestant engraver Theodore de Bry, offer.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America acknowledges and repents for its complicity in the harms of colonialism towards Native American and Alaska Native.
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.
The American Indian Law Alliance (AILA) was founded in 1989 by Tonya Gonnella Frichner as an Indigenous, non profit organization advocating for sovereignty.
The Catholic Church strives to promote universal fraternity and respect for the dignity of every human being, condemning acts of violence, oppression, and.
The transition of Lithuania from a pagan to a Roman Catholic culture began with Pope Innocent IV’s issuance of Bulls in 1251. Mindaugas, Grand Duke of.
As we wrap up this volume and grant period we would like to express our deepest gratitude to S.B. Rodriguez Plate and the entire team of CrossCurrents for.
The term “white Christian nationalism” has emerged in recent years to describe a worldview that has become central to the contemporary Republican Party…
Perkinson discusses the origins of colonialism and white supremacy, tracing it back to the relationship with the land. He explores the shift from pastoral.
The Episcopal Church’s commitment to justice and equality is challenged by its historical complicity in the Doctrine of Discovery. The Episcopal Diocese of.
I am the meadow And the tall grasses I am the stone That rolled away I am the water That flows through all life possible I am the tree That shades Outcome.
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.
Lyons discusses the journey in the Doctrine of Discovery, highlighting his experience presenting at the United Nations in 2001. He focuses on the history of.
An often heard truism among homeland Filipinos in conversations with their diasporic counterparts in the United States is the notion that race and racism.
A comprehensive 15 part extended essay by Steven T. Newcomb examining how the Doctrine of Discovery has shaped U.S. Supreme Court rulings and American law.
How did the U.S. justify ‘ultimate dominion’ over Native nations and lands? This series examines the Doctrine of Discovery in Supreme Court rulings. Outcome.
The Fletcher v. Peck case examined whether the U.S. courts would recognize Indian title to land, and how colonial charters justified domination. Outcome.
The 1823 landmark Johnson v. McIntosh case established the Doctrine of Discovery as U.S. law, denying Native nations’ property rights. Outcome archive context.
In 1831, the Cherokee Nation sought Supreme Court protection from Georgia’s laws designed to annihilate their political existence. Outcome archive context.
The 1832 Worcester v. Georgia ruling protected Native nations from state laws, yet affirmed federal domination under the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome.
The Monroe Doctrine (1823) extended U.S. claims of ‘ultimate dominion’ over the Western Hemisphere, following the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome archive.
Martin v. Waddell (1842) applied the Doctrine of Discovery to oyster beds, asserting European discovery gave absolute property rights. Outcome archive context.
Teddy Roosevelt’s 1904 Monroe Doctrine Corollary asserted U.S. imperial dominion over the Western Hemisphere and its indigenous peoples. Outcome archive.
Tee Hit Ton v. U.S. (1955) denied Native peoples compensation for lands taken by the U.S. government under the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome archive context.
Cayuga Nation v. Pataki (2005) explored Haudenosaunee land claims and the suppressed 1922 Everett Report on Native treaty rights. Outcome archive context.
Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida (2010) examined equitable defenses used to bar Native land claims spanning centuries. Outcome archive context.
Onondaga Nation’s lawsuit to recover ancestral lands was dismissed using federal Indian law doctrines based on discovery and domination. Outcome archive.
McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) upheld Creek Nation jurisdiction while affirming federal plenary power based on the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome archive context.
U.S. v. King Mountain Tobacco (2012) asserted federal excise tax authority over Yakama Nation based on plenary power doctrine. Outcome archive context.
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.
Democracy didn’t come across on the Mayflower. Indeed not. Nor with the Niña nor Santa Maria. Certainly not. Democracy was here. Archive context. Archive.
In the 1600s when enslaved Africans disembarked en masse and travel weary to this land mass, they arrived in a place where hundreds of Indigenous groups.
CEMANAHUAC Superseding the Doctrine of Discovery: World Water One www.www.www This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive context.
The Doctrine of Discovery (DoD) has a well documented and researched connection to the colonization of Turtle Island. Its ideology, however, reaches far.
This shameful, land mark decision by the Supreme Court was issued just three weeks after the filing of the Onondaga Nation’s Land Rights Action. Archive.
Asia, Africa, and Europe all meet in the Americas to labor over the dialectics of free and unfree This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over.
On September 8, 2021 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) voted to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery by adopting Motion 048, now.
In the 1600s when enslaved Africans disembarked en masse and travel weary to this land mass, they arrived in a place where hundreds of Indigenous groups.
Indians being the prior occupants, possess the right to the soil. It cannot be taken from them unless by their free consent… Archive context. Archive context.
In 1988 the United States Supreme Court declared constitutional the federal government’s development plan in the High Country, aboriginal homeland of the.
Manifest Destiny is a nineteenth century term designating an expansionist ideology grounded in the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and republican ideals.
The Philippines has over 14 17 million remaining Indigenous peoples belonging to an estimated 110 ethnolinguistic communities (between 10 20% of the total.
Again, were we to inquire by what law or authority you set up a claim [to our land], I answer, none! Your laws extend not into our country, nor ever did.
In the 1600s when enslaved Africans disembarked en masse and travel weary to this land mass, they arrived in a place where hundreds of Indigenous groups.
In March 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in City of Sherrill, New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York. Sherrill is a case about.
In our journey of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery and its horrible legacy, there is a recurring argument from the Catholic church and its supporters.
Joseph Story is regarded as a genius and a giant in the legal profession. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive context. Archive.
Nations formulate doctrines that define and guide their relations toward other nations. The Monroe Doctrine, and the Truman, Carter, and Bush Doctrines are.
The International Journal on Responsibility (IJR) (ISSN: 2576 0955) is an international, peer reviewed, interdisciplinary forum for theoretical, practical.
The second issue of volume five of the Journal of the Council for Research on Religion (JCREOR) is a special issue, From Indigenous ‘Religions’ to. Outcome.
This article takes as its point of departure the 2022 Interim Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, entitled.
The Territorial Integrity of Mother Earth, Indigenous Peoples, and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief Outcome archive context. Outcome archive context.
Intellectual Acknowledgement in Favour of Religious Freedom and Justice: Comparative History of Religions and Ideas as Methodology for Education Outcome.
Part 1: We Were Planting Corn and They Were Planting Crosses This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous sovereignty, law, religion.
Alencar traces how the Doctrine of Discovery shaped Brazil through church backed silence, racial myths, and colonial violence, urging decolonial accountability.
In this bicentennial reflection on the Erie Canal, Renee Barry examines how celebratory public histories mask the canal’s foundation in settler colonial.
Callan traces how medieval English myths, crusade defeat, and Irish colonization shaped Christian white supremacy and fed the global Doctrine of Discovery.
Chaness links white supremacy, settler colonialism, and anti Indian racism, showing how Indigenous values and pedagogy reshape critical classroom practice.
Lakshmi frames Dalit feminist values alongside Indigenous frameworks to show alternative forms of dwelling, relation, and resistance beyond colonial modernity.
Nahar argues Doctrine of Discovery can build shared language between Black and Indigenous feminisms, strengthening solidarity against settler colonial power.
Preface to a special issue examining Christian Discovery’s role in white supremacy, law, and education, with decolonial paths grounded in Indigenous justice.
Radhakrishnan examines how U.S. schooling reproduces white supremacy and identifies teacher education strategies to disrupt curriculum, instruction, and policy.
Somayajula reads Hindutva as political theology, showing how Hindu nationalism flattens religious diversity and urging a more inclusive Hindu identity.
Trinkauskaite explores Baltic sacred traditions and sutartinės, linking domestic deities and revivalist practice to collective ethics beyond hierarchy.
The podcast explores how a centuries old Christian doctrine encouraged conquest and colonization of non Christians and how its legacies still affect various.
S. Lily Mendoza and Jim Perkinson unpack white supremacy, decolonial praxis, and Indigenous resurgence. It points readers to the Outcome archive for context.
Philip Arnold calls for a value shift rooted in Haudenosaunee teachings to ensure collective survival. It points readers to the Outcome archive for context.
Dr. Yuria Celidwen shares Indigenous contemplative science and ethics for planetary healing. It points readers to the Outcome archive for context. Outcome.
Dr. Holly Rine discusses teaching the Doctrine of Discovery inside Jesuit classrooms. This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous.
Betty Lyons confronts the Doctrine of Discovery through Haudenosaunee diplomacy and legal advocacy. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Robert P. Jones examines Christian supremacy, polling data, and dismantling colonial theologies. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Robert J. Miller outlines legal strategies tribes use to counter conquest era doctrines. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive.
Gustavo Melo Cerqueira and Danielle Boaz discuss combating religious racism across the hemisphere. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Steven Newcomb and JoDe Goudy reflect on Indigenous law, activism, and undoing papal domination. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Eve Reyes Aguirre shares Tonatierra community organizing against imperial Christianity. This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous.
João Chaves explains how evangelical missions fueled colonization in Brazil and beyond. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive.
Mitch Randall urges faith communities to reject conquest theology and stand with Indigenous nations. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
On November 10, 2025, Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Thomas teamed up to insist that the doctrine of “plenary power” over Native Peoples is not good law and never has been.
This Special Issue invites submissions that interrogate the intersection between race, religion, and nationalism in the 21st century. Submissions might explo...
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.
What a delight to read Steve Featherstone’s feature article about the long-overdue return of 1,000 acres in the Tully Valley to the Onondaga Nation. Hearing ...
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
Travis Bowman and Matthew Zembo trace New York’s 1779 campaigns and the deliberate dispossession of Haudenosaunee — scorched-corn tactics, falsified intelligence, and land grabs used to clear Iroquoia for settlement.
With Kim Carfore we trace how dominionist readings of Genesis 1:28 fueled the Doctrine of Discovery witch burnings and modern domination systems then pull forward correctives from multiple wells Haudenosaunee wisdom.
Susan Brewer traces the history of the ‘best land’ in Madison County and the dispossession of the Oneida Nation during the construction of the Erie Canal.
Jake Haiwhagai’i Edwards and Philip P. Arnold discuss how the Erie Canal’s construction disrupted Haudenosaunee watersheds and produced lasting environmental and cultural trauma.
In our latest podcast episode, author Matthew Boedy exposes how the Seven Mountains Mandate and Turning Point USA are actively reshaping American politics through Christian nationalism.
Davíd Carrasco and Raymond Carr honor Charles H. Long through memory, archival discovery, and stories that reveal his enduring scholarly and personal legacy.
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.
As I reflected on the discussions, I realized that without action, valuable Indigenous knowledge becomes an extracted resource often at the benefit of non-In...
Manifest Destiny is a nineteenth-century term designating an expansionist ideology grounded in the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and republican ideals that...
The Chilean political class that converges in the Chamber of Deputies and Senators, not only continue to act in the “old political doctrine of denial of the ...
Robert J Miller, Professor of Law in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University gave a lecture entitled “Indigenous Peoples, Internat...
While Britain’s American Colonies grew, Native American tribes became increasingly reliant on European powers for trade goods, especially metal objects and f...
ANNOUNCEMENT Artists’ Book Release Details - In the Court of the Conqueror featuring Patty Ortiz with George Emilio Sanchez - Curator & Editor, Cydney Pa...
Translation differences between this new translation and Davenport’s occur more often in tone than in content. Of the latter, the most important is probably ...
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...
Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) Prior to the invasion of this continent (“North America”) by representatives of the monarchs of Western Christendom, the orig...
Beginning in 2014, University Chancellor Kent Syverud initiated several measures honoring the Haudenosaunee. One of the measures is the University’s policy o...
Johnson’s Lessee v. M’Intosh is an 1823 United States Supreme Court decision that serves as a hinge moment in the legal conquest of Native Americans. The cas...
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...
In our journey of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery and its horrible legacy, there is a recurring argument from the Catholic church and its supporters, t...
The Onondaga Nation And The Haudenosaunee Against The United States Of America The Onondaga Nation And The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Supplemental Submission ...
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.
Dive into the history of religious freedom in the U.S. with Winifred Sullivan! Explore the intersection of faith, law, and indigenous influences shaping Amer...
Unpack the transformative power of indigenous knowledge and its impact on modern politics with Philip Deloria. From colonialism to Native sovereignty, this e...
Join us for a thought-provoking conversation on faith, nationalism, and Indigenous sovereignty. Special guest Steve Schwartzberg shares insights on historica...
Indigenous values challenge our frameworks of law and spirituality. Are we ready to listen? Dive into our latest episode and let’s discuss the future of sacr...
This episode is a live recording of The Doctrine of Christian Discovery, The Jesuits, and Laudato si: Defending Mother Earth an educational event that took place on Saturday, June 14, 2025 from 1:00-4:00PM. This event seredepitiously coincided with the #NoKings protests which were happening across the nation.
For decades, Indigenous peoples have demanded the Holy See formally rescind the 15th century papal bulls, or decrees, that gave European kingdoms the religio...
Newsflash! Property law in the U.S. is not rooted in the Constitution. America’s legal foundation for property law (possession), “anti-Indian law” and the co...
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 ...
Read Steve Kelly’s analysis of how Christian Discovery doctrine shaped U.S. property law, anti-Indian law, and modern settler-colonial legal frameworks.
Newcomb, Steven T. “The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law: The Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. McIntosh, and Plenary Power.” NYU Rev....
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 ...
Indigenous women from around Africa arrived to traditionally Native land bases that were often in turmoil. If the Indigenous nations of the place were able t...
50 miles from Charleston, South Carolina, is the mouth of the Combahee River, named for the Indigenous people of the place. It was home to numerous plantatio...
Creating spaces like that of the AMC AfroFeministFutures panel will allow Black feminists to reflect on the legacy of Black feminism, and what futures can lo...
The Doctrine of Discovery (DoD, sometimes called the Doctrine of Christian Domination) is considered a major root of settler colonialism globally. The DoD is...
The repudiation, which came in a statement from a bureaucratic office, not Pope Francis himself, said the doctrine had been “manipulated” by colonizers “to j...
This shameful, land mark decision by the Supreme Court was issued just three weeks after the filing of the Onondaga Nation’s Land Rights Action. It was a rem...
Remember, if it’s starting to get heated, step out and take a breather, you can always have the kōrero again another day. TLDR: It’s ok to be Christian, it’s...
When I began teaching at the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1990, the prevailing wisdom in the academy was to avoid teaching “Native American Religion...
I watch and wonder if we are witnessing the (re)birth of a distinctly American religion. One that shares a kinship and affinity with prior permutations of Am...
Do you ever wonder how land comes to be privately owned? I wonder all the time. It’s the whole reason for this newsletter. I’m interested in other forms of o...
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...
Civilization and personhood are the intellectual bulwarks for the justification of colonization. The colonizer assumes they are made in the image of their Go...
In the Two Row Wampum, an agreement between two peoples, the Dutch were the first Europeans to sit down and negotiate with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, doi...
What better time than now to consider the ancient wisdom of our ancestors who, for thousands of years, sustained a more equitable way of living in proper rel...
this thesis analyze the perceptions of the Doctrine of Discovery, a religious principle incorporated into law during the Age of Discovery among people within...
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...
Beneath glowering portraits of Balboa, Cortez and other Spanish conquistadors, Mr. Newcomb pored over the familiar Latin phrases, many of which he’d memorize...
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...
Nations formulate doctrines that define and guide their relations toward other nations. The Monroe Doctrine, and the Truman, Carter, and Bush Doctrines are A...
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...
“Our nation’s history is rife with such injustices. It is no victory to sanitize the past, but there is a difference between erasing history and redressing h...
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our podcast, blog, and conference. As part of the Doctrine of Discovery Project we wanted to do a syllabus s...
When the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues convenes on May 7th in New York, native peoples around the world will turn their eyes to the mos...
How did the world come to be? How did humans come to be? What is the origin of all living beings? The myth history of who we are begins with the creation.
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.
Comments delivered as part of the “Virtual Consultation on Legal Framework: Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief,” held June 22,...
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, initiates a critical conversation within the United Nations sy...
The present report is the input provided by the Indigenous Values Initiative (IVI) and American Indian Law Alliance (AILA) in response to the new report draf...
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.
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.
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.
Onondaga Creek, muddied by more than 100 years of pollution, may soon flow with a renewed glimmer under the care of its original protectors, the Onondaga Nat...
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.
The Doctrine of Christian Discovery is a series of fifteenth-century papal bulls that served as the theological and legal justification for the colonization ...
Steven Newcomb and Peter d’Errico introduce Domination Chronicles, a podcast focused on domination, discovery, law, language, and Indigenous free existence.
Steven Newcomb and Peter d’Errico explore how symbols, monuments, seals, and public images participate in creating and preserving domination realities.
Steve Newcomb and Peter d’Errico discuss a Supreme Court dissent that challenges plenary power and opens questions about federal domination over Native nations.
Domination Chronicles examines Tee-Hit-Ton v. United States and the doctrine of Christian discovery as legal fiction serving racial segregation and land theft.
In his address during the Erie Canal Centennial Celebration in 1926, Dr. John H. Finley remarked that the Canal’s economic benefits, though immense, were out...
Sitting amid this background before a congressional hearing, Reagan’s secretary of the interior James G. Watt was asked if he would protect wildernesses for ...
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.
A Washington Supreme Court case used by Domination Chronicles to examine the limits of criticizing racist legal language while preserving domination doctrine.
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.
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.”
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.
Nine Years Ago Today, on May 4th, 2016, We Met Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square, and Archbishop Silvano Tomasi at the Pontifical Council For Justice and Peace
Steven T. Newcomb examines the contradictions in the Native American Rights Fund’s amicus brief opposing construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall on the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
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.
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.
It is a classic misinterpretation to refer to all Natives as always being in harmony with themselves and their surroundings. As in, categorizing. Outcome.
Brett and Hill review several books, including The Urgency of Indigenous Values by Philip P. Arnold It points readers to the Outcome archive for context.
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.
Greetings to you all. I’m Haiwhagai’i, Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan. I have to start off with gratitude for seeing all of your faces here. It is a bit awkward.
The primary visual sources depicting the treatment of Indigenous peoples by conquerors, particularly the works of Protestant engraver Theodore de Bry, offer.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America acknowledges and repents for its complicity in the harms of colonialism towards Native American and Alaska Native.
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.
The American Indian Law Alliance (AILA) was founded in 1989 by Tonya Gonnella Frichner as an Indigenous, non profit organization advocating for sovereignty.
The Catholic Church strives to promote universal fraternity and respect for the dignity of every human being, condemning acts of violence, oppression, and.
The transition of Lithuania from a pagan to a Roman Catholic culture began with Pope Innocent IV’s issuance of Bulls in 1251. Mindaugas, Grand Duke of.
As we wrap up this volume and grant period we would like to express our deepest gratitude to S.B. Rodriguez Plate and the entire team of CrossCurrents for.
The term “white Christian nationalism” has emerged in recent years to describe a worldview that has become central to the contemporary Republican Party…
Perkinson discusses the origins of colonialism and white supremacy, tracing it back to the relationship with the land. He explores the shift from pastoral.
The Episcopal Church’s commitment to justice and equality is challenged by its historical complicity in the Doctrine of Discovery. The Episcopal Diocese of.
I am the meadow And the tall grasses I am the stone That rolled away I am the water That flows through all life possible I am the tree That shades Outcome.
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.
Lyons discusses the journey in the Doctrine of Discovery, highlighting his experience presenting at the United Nations in 2001. He focuses on the history of.
An often heard truism among homeland Filipinos in conversations with their diasporic counterparts in the United States is the notion that race and racism.
A comprehensive 15 part extended essay by Steven T. Newcomb examining how the Doctrine of Discovery has shaped U.S. Supreme Court rulings and American law.
How did the U.S. justify ‘ultimate dominion’ over Native nations and lands? This series examines the Doctrine of Discovery in Supreme Court rulings. Outcome.
The Fletcher v. Peck case examined whether the U.S. courts would recognize Indian title to land, and how colonial charters justified domination. Outcome.
The 1823 landmark Johnson v. McIntosh case established the Doctrine of Discovery as U.S. law, denying Native nations’ property rights. Outcome archive context.
In 1831, the Cherokee Nation sought Supreme Court protection from Georgia’s laws designed to annihilate their political existence. Outcome archive context.
The 1832 Worcester v. Georgia ruling protected Native nations from state laws, yet affirmed federal domination under the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome.
The Monroe Doctrine (1823) extended U.S. claims of ‘ultimate dominion’ over the Western Hemisphere, following the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome archive.
Martin v. Waddell (1842) applied the Doctrine of Discovery to oyster beds, asserting European discovery gave absolute property rights. Outcome archive context.
Teddy Roosevelt’s 1904 Monroe Doctrine Corollary asserted U.S. imperial dominion over the Western Hemisphere and its indigenous peoples. Outcome archive.
Tee Hit Ton v. U.S. (1955) denied Native peoples compensation for lands taken by the U.S. government under the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome archive context.
Cayuga Nation v. Pataki (2005) explored Haudenosaunee land claims and the suppressed 1922 Everett Report on Native treaty rights. Outcome archive context.
Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida (2010) examined equitable defenses used to bar Native land claims spanning centuries. Outcome archive context.
Onondaga Nation’s lawsuit to recover ancestral lands was dismissed using federal Indian law doctrines based on discovery and domination. Outcome archive.
McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) upheld Creek Nation jurisdiction while affirming federal plenary power based on the Doctrine of Discovery. Outcome archive context.
U.S. v. King Mountain Tobacco (2012) asserted federal excise tax authority over Yakama Nation based on plenary power doctrine. Outcome archive context.
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.
Democracy didn’t come across on the Mayflower. Indeed not. Nor with the Niña nor Santa Maria. Certainly not. Democracy was here. Archive context. Archive.
In the 1600s when enslaved Africans disembarked en masse and travel weary to this land mass, they arrived in a place where hundreds of Indigenous groups.
CEMANAHUAC Superseding the Doctrine of Discovery: World Water One www.www.www This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive context.
The Doctrine of Discovery (DoD) has a well documented and researched connection to the colonization of Turtle Island. Its ideology, however, reaches far.
This shameful, land mark decision by the Supreme Court was issued just three weeks after the filing of the Onondaga Nation’s Land Rights Action. Archive.
Asia, Africa, and Europe all meet in the Americas to labor over the dialectics of free and unfree This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over.
On September 8, 2021 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) voted to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery by adopting Motion 048, now.
In the 1600s when enslaved Africans disembarked en masse and travel weary to this land mass, they arrived in a place where hundreds of Indigenous groups.
Indians being the prior occupants, possess the right to the soil. It cannot be taken from them unless by their free consent… Archive context. Archive context.
In 1988 the United States Supreme Court declared constitutional the federal government’s development plan in the High Country, aboriginal homeland of the.
Manifest Destiny is a nineteenth century term designating an expansionist ideology grounded in the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and republican ideals.
The Philippines has over 14 17 million remaining Indigenous peoples belonging to an estimated 110 ethnolinguistic communities (between 10 20% of the total.
Again, were we to inquire by what law or authority you set up a claim [to our land], I answer, none! Your laws extend not into our country, nor ever did.
In the 1600s when enslaved Africans disembarked en masse and travel weary to this land mass, they arrived in a place where hundreds of Indigenous groups.
In March 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in City of Sherrill, New York v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York. Sherrill is a case about.
In our journey of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery and its horrible legacy, there is a recurring argument from the Catholic church and its supporters.
Joseph Story is regarded as a genius and a giant in the legal profession. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive context. Archive.
Nations formulate doctrines that define and guide their relations toward other nations. The Monroe Doctrine, and the Truman, Carter, and Bush Doctrines are.
The International Journal on Responsibility (IJR) (ISSN: 2576 0955) is an international, peer reviewed, interdisciplinary forum for theoretical, practical.
The second issue of volume five of the Journal of the Council for Research on Religion (JCREOR) is a special issue, From Indigenous ‘Religions’ to. Outcome.
This article takes as its point of departure the 2022 Interim Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, entitled.
The Territorial Integrity of Mother Earth, Indigenous Peoples, and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief Outcome archive context. Outcome archive context.
Intellectual Acknowledgement in Favour of Religious Freedom and Justice: Comparative History of Religions and Ideas as Methodology for Education Outcome.
Part 1: We Were Planting Corn and They Were Planting Crosses This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous sovereignty, law, religion.
Alencar traces how the Doctrine of Discovery shaped Brazil through church backed silence, racial myths, and colonial violence, urging decolonial accountability.
In this bicentennial reflection on the Erie Canal, Renee Barry examines how celebratory public histories mask the canal’s foundation in settler colonial.
Callan traces how medieval English myths, crusade defeat, and Irish colonization shaped Christian white supremacy and fed the global Doctrine of Discovery.
Chaness links white supremacy, settler colonialism, and anti Indian racism, showing how Indigenous values and pedagogy reshape critical classroom practice.
Lakshmi frames Dalit feminist values alongside Indigenous frameworks to show alternative forms of dwelling, relation, and resistance beyond colonial modernity.
Nahar argues Doctrine of Discovery can build shared language between Black and Indigenous feminisms, strengthening solidarity against settler colonial power.
Preface to a special issue examining Christian Discovery’s role in white supremacy, law, and education, with decolonial paths grounded in Indigenous justice.
Radhakrishnan examines how U.S. schooling reproduces white supremacy and identifies teacher education strategies to disrupt curriculum, instruction, and policy.
Somayajula reads Hindutva as political theology, showing how Hindu nationalism flattens religious diversity and urging a more inclusive Hindu identity.
Trinkauskaite explores Baltic sacred traditions and sutartinės, linking domestic deities and revivalist practice to collective ethics beyond hierarchy.
The podcast explores how a centuries old Christian doctrine encouraged conquest and colonization of non Christians and how its legacies still affect various.
S. Lily Mendoza and Jim Perkinson unpack white supremacy, decolonial praxis, and Indigenous resurgence. It points readers to the Outcome archive for context.
Philip Arnold calls for a value shift rooted in Haudenosaunee teachings to ensure collective survival. It points readers to the Outcome archive for context.
Dr. Yuria Celidwen shares Indigenous contemplative science and ethics for planetary healing. It points readers to the Outcome archive for context. Outcome.
Dr. Holly Rine discusses teaching the Doctrine of Discovery inside Jesuit classrooms. This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous.
Betty Lyons confronts the Doctrine of Discovery through Haudenosaunee diplomacy and legal advocacy. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Robert P. Jones examines Christian supremacy, polling data, and dismantling colonial theologies. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Robert J. Miller outlines legal strategies tribes use to counter conquest era doctrines. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive.
Gustavo Melo Cerqueira and Danielle Boaz discuss combating religious racism across the hemisphere. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Steven Newcomb and JoDe Goudy reflect on Indigenous law, activism, and undoing papal domination. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
Eve Reyes Aguirre shares Tonatierra community organizing against imperial Christianity. This entry connects Doctrine of Discovery scholarship, Indigenous.
João Chaves explains how evangelical missions fueled colonization in Brazil and beyond. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive.
Mitch Randall urges faith communities to reject conquest theology and stand with Indigenous nations. This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context.
On November 10, 2025, Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Thomas teamed up to insist that the doctrine of “plenary power” over Native Peoples is not good law and never has been.
This Special Issue invites submissions that interrogate the intersection between race, religion, and nationalism in the 21st century. Submissions might explo...
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.
What a delight to read Steve Featherstone’s feature article about the long-overdue return of 1,000 acres in the Tully Valley to the Onondaga Nation. Hearing ...
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
Travis Bowman and Matthew Zembo trace New York’s 1779 campaigns and the deliberate dispossession of Haudenosaunee — scorched-corn tactics, falsified intelligence, and land grabs used to clear Iroquoia for settlement.
With Kim Carfore we trace how dominionist readings of Genesis 1:28 fueled the Doctrine of Discovery witch burnings and modern domination systems then pull forward correctives from multiple wells Haudenosaunee wisdom.
Susan Brewer traces the history of the ‘best land’ in Madison County and the dispossession of the Oneida Nation during the construction of the Erie Canal.
Jake Haiwhagai’i Edwards and Philip P. Arnold discuss how the Erie Canal’s construction disrupted Haudenosaunee watersheds and produced lasting environmental and cultural trauma.
In our latest podcast episode, author Matthew Boedy exposes how the Seven Mountains Mandate and Turning Point USA are actively reshaping American politics through Christian nationalism.
Davíd Carrasco and Raymond Carr honor Charles H. Long through memory, archival discovery, and stories that reveal his enduring scholarly and personal legacy.
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.
Johnson v M’Intosh is an 1823 U.S. Supreme Court case about how the Discovery Doctrine was used to justify denying Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples’ l...
The fracturing of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in its effort to decide Brakeen in 2021 demonstrates the deep confusion and contradiction (some say schi...
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 ...
And yet, all across Mother Earth, stories reverberate of Indigenous nations and peoples’ resistance and refusal in the face of the settler colonial state. We...
The Haudenosaunee are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Haudenosaunee, their relationship with Europe and America and their ...
After discussing how the Zócalo provides a snapshot of colonization, Arnold shifts the conversation to the History of Religions as a theory and method for un...
Tupac Enrique Acosta, (Izkaloteka Mexica Azteca), TONATIERRA, One of the original conveners of the gathering of Tlahtokan Aztlan in 1984 in the O’otham Jeved...
…the Doctrine of Discovery consists of the idea that Christians have a right sanctioned by God to take non-Christian lands and property and assert political ...
That the 76th General Convention repudiates and renounces the Doctrine of Discovery as fundamentally opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our understand...
A conversation on the doctrine of discovery will always entail a discussion of Native American or Indigenous lands. Moreover, because the doctrine has been a...
Pope Nicholas V first articulated the Doctrine of Discovery in the papal bull Dum Diversas in 1452. The Doctrine of Discovery consists of the idea that Chris...
We understand that the majority of early Friends who settled on this continent were from Western Europe and held a Western European worldview of their relati...
That the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, meeting, July 13-17, 2013, in Orlando, Florida, acce...
Calling for the United Church of Christ to Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery Which Authorized the Genocide of Native Peoples and the Theft of Native Lands.
That the 76th General Convention repudiates and renounces the Doctrine of Discovery as fundamentally opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our understand...
With the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly of the United Nations, we finally took our place at the tabl...
A conversation on the doctrine of discovery will always entail a discussion of Native American or Indigenous lands. Moreover, because the doctrine has been a...
We understand that the majority of early Friends who settled on this continent were from Western Europe and held a Western European worldview of their relati...
That the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, meeting, July 13-17, 2013, in Orlando, Florida, acce...
Calling for the United Church of Christ to Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery Which Authorized the Genocide of Native Peoples and the Theft of Native Lands.
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...
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.
The doctrine of discovery has continued to be the cornerstone of United States Indian law. A series of recent, disturbing decisions by the Supreme Court and ...
As promising as this decision is, deeply racist problems remain in US law.Left unsaid by Gorsuch was his, and the court’s, unquestioned acceptance of “plenar...
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...
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...
Preliminary study of the impact on indigenous peoples of the international legal construct known as the Doctrine of Discovery / submitted by the Special Rapp...
The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the use of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery in United States Supreme Court decisions since 1823. It ...
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 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 ...
We understand Sherrill to hold that equitable doctrines, such as laches, acquiescence, and impossibility, can in appropriate circumstances, be applied to Ind...
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...
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...
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 asserted that European nations should not intervene in countries to the south of the US, however under certain conditions, United States interventi...
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...
Tobacco company, owned by a Yakima Nation citizen, makes cigarettes using 54 % tobacco that is grown on allotted nation land, held in trust by US. The 9th Ci...
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...
Here are the 10 elements that I think constitute the Doctrine and are useful in analyzing and comparing how settler-colonizer societies have used this intern...
With the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly of the United Nations, we finally took our place at the tabl...
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.
The doctrine of discovery has continued to be the cornerstone of United States Indian law. A series of recent, disturbing decisions by the Supreme Court and ...
As promising as this decision is, deeply racist problems remain in US law.Left unsaid by Gorsuch was his, and the court’s, unquestioned acceptance of “plenar...
Preliminary study of the impact on indigenous peoples of the international legal construct known as the Doctrine of Discovery / submitted by the Special Rapp...
The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the use of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery in United States Supreme Court decisions since 1823. It ...
The Doctrine of Discovery has had profoundly negative impacts on Indigenous Peoples for the last 500+ years. Governments and various organizations have used ...
The first Christian people to locate lands inhabited by non-Christians (‘infidels, heathens, and savages’) claimed the right to assert a right of domination ...
Like the rings of a tree, the record of our people, our indigenous truth, is carried in the bones of indigenous women, which we bear forth with every birth o...
In 1779, General George Washington suspended the colonial war against England and moved to extinguish the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois) with his “Sull...
As promising as this decision is, deeply racist problems remain in US law.Left unsaid by Gorsuch was his, and the court’s, unquestioned acceptance of “plenar...
2009 event archive ‘Roots of Peacemaking: Indigenous Values, Global Crisis’ is the first in an ongoing series of events that include conferences, cultural ex...
We will first to learn about the devastating impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery first hand from the Haudenosaunee, to understand its history, and then to s...
A Screening Of The Domination Code followed by an incredible panel discussion with Sheldon Wolfchild (Dakota), Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape), Buffy Sainte ...
With the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly of the United Nations, we finally took our place at the tabl...
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.
In CounterPunch, Shawnee/Lenape scholar Steve Newcomb connects anti-blackness and racism to the domination and dehumanization of the Doctrine of Discovery.
The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the use of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery in United States Supreme Court decisions since 1823. It ...
The first Christian people to locate lands inhabited by non-Christians (‘infidels, heathens, and savages’) claimed the right to assert a right of domination ...
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...
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 ...
Reclaiming Native Truth’s research shows hope. For instance, it demonstrates that, when presented with a narrative that educates on the value of and values i...
In a first-of-its-kind action in the Christian world, the national Episcopal Church has passed a landmark resolution repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery an...
In CounterPunch, Shawnee/Lenape scholar Steve Newcomb connects anti-blackness and racism to the domination and dehumanization of the Doctrine of Discovery.
Inspired by the actions of the Episcopal Church, a Quaker group has disavowed the Christian Doctrine of Discovery and voiced its support for the United Natio...
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...
2009 event archive ‘Roots of Peacemaking: Indigenous Values, Global Crisis’ is the first in an ongoing series of events that include conferences, cultural ex...
Comments delivered as part of the “Virtual Consultation on Legal Framework: Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief,” held June 22,...
In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, initiates a critical conversation within the United Nations sy...
The present report is the input provided by the Indigenous Values Initiative (IVI) and American Indian Law Alliance (AILA) in response to the new report draf...
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.
Dive into the history of religious freedom in the U.S. with Winifred Sullivan! Explore the intersection of faith, law, and indigenous influences shaping Amer...
Unpack the transformative power of indigenous knowledge and its impact on modern politics with Philip Deloria. From colonialism to Native sovereignty, this e...
Join us for a thought-provoking conversation on faith, nationalism, and Indigenous sovereignty. Special guest Steve Schwartzberg shares insights on historica...
Indigenous values challenge our frameworks of law and spirituality. Are we ready to listen? Dive into our latest episode and let’s discuss the future of sacr...
This episode is a live recording of The Doctrine of Christian Discovery, The Jesuits, and Laudato si: Defending Mother Earth an educational event that took place on Saturday, June 14, 2025 from 1:00-4:00PM. This event seredepitiously coincided with the #NoKings protests which were happening across the nation.
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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 ...
With the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly of the United Nations, we finally took our place at the tabl...
An Indigenous Peoples’ Statement to the World Delivered at The Parliament of the World’s Religions Convened at Melbourne, Australia on the Traditional Lands ...
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.
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...
The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the use of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery in United States Supreme Court decisions since 1823. It ...
After discussing how the Zócalo provides a snapshot of colonization, Arnold shifts the conversation to the History of Religions as a theory and method for un...
Tupac Enrique Acosta, (Izkaloteka Mexica Azteca), TONATIERRA, One of the original conveners of the gathering of Tlahtokan Aztlan in 1984 in the O’otham Jeved...
With the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly of the United Nations, we finally took our place at the tabl...
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.
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...
The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the use of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery in United States Supreme Court decisions since 1823. It ...
The Doctrine of Discovery Initiative announces the launch of a 15-part extended essay examining how the Doctrine of Discovery has shaped U.S. legal history t...
Miller, Robert J. “The International Law of Colonialism: Johnson v. M’Intosh and the Doctrine of Discovery Applied Worldwide.” Tribal Law Journal 23, 1 (2024).
In 1988 the United States Supreme Court declared constitutional the federal government’s development plan in the High Country, aboriginal homeland of the Kar...
Indigenous women from around Africa arrived to traditionally Native land bases that were often in turmoil. If the Indigenous nations of the place were able t...
50 miles from Charleston, South Carolina, is the mouth of the Combahee River, named for the Indigenous people of the place. It was home to numerous plantatio...
Creating spaces like that of the AMC AfroFeministFutures panel will allow Black feminists to reflect on the legacy of Black feminism, and what futures can lo...
The Doctrine of Discovery (DoD, sometimes called the Doctrine of Christian Domination) is considered a major root of settler colonialism globally. The DoD is...
With issuance of 15th century Papal Bulls known as the Doctrine of Christian Discovery, religion has been used all over the world as a weapon against Indigen...
An Indigenous Peoples’ Statement to the World Delivered at The Parliament of the World’s Religions Convened at Melbourne, Australia on the Traditional Lands ...
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.
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).
The Doctrine of Discovery Initiative announces the launch of a 15-part extended essay examining how the Doctrine of Discovery has shaped U.S. legal history t...
In our journey of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery and its horrible legacy, there is a recurring argument from the Catholic church and its supporters, t...
Newcomb, Steven T. “The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law: The Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. McIntosh, and Plenary Power.” NYU Rev....
Pope Nicholas V first articulated the Doctrine of Discovery in the papal bull Dum Diversas in 1452. The Doctrine of Discovery consists of the idea that Chris...
The Haudenosaunee are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Haudenosaunee, their relationship with Europe and America and their ...
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...
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...
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...