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.
‘What is the United States position with respect to its 1863 treaty with the Western Shoshone Indians?’
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...
CEMANAHUAC Superseding the Doctrine of Discovery: World Water One www.www.www
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...
We are now accepting applications for partnership and collaboration with The Doctrine of Discovery Project.
A Canopy Forum Thematic Series March – April 2023
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...
Please join us for panel discussion with Philip P. Arnold, Tupac Enrique Acosta, Sandy Bigtree, Joe Heath, Betty Lyons, Tina Ngata.
Please join us for panel discussion with Philip P. Arnold, Tupac Enrique Acosta, Sandy Bigtree, Joe Heath, Betty Lyons, Tina Ngata.
The Doctrine of Discovery (DoD) has a well-documented and researched connection to the colonization of Turtle Island. Its ideology, however, reaches far beyo...
por Betty Lyons, Sandra Bigtree y Philip Arnold
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...
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 ...
How did the U.S. justify ‘ultimate dominion’ over Native nations and lands? This series examines the Doctrine of Discovery in Supreme Court rulings.
The Fletcher v. Peck case examined whether the U.S. courts would recognize Indian title to land, and how colonial charters justified domination.
Cayuga Nation v. Pataki (2005) explored Haudenosaunee land claims and the suppressed 1922 Everett Report on Native treaty rights.
Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida (2010) examined equitable defenses used to bar Native land claims spanning centuries.
Onondaga Nation’s lawsuit to recover ancestral lands was dismissed using federal Indian law doctrines based on discovery and domination.
U.S. v. King Mountain Tobacco (2012) asserted federal excise tax authority over Yakama Nation based on plenary power doctrine.
In 1831, the Cherokee Nation sought Supreme Court protection from Georgia’s laws designed to annihilate their political existence.
The 1823 landmark Johnson v. McIntosh case established the Doctrine of Discovery as U.S. law, denying Native nations’ property rights.
The 1832 Worcester v. Georgia ruling protected Native nations from state laws, yet affirmed federal domination under the Doctrine of Discovery.
Martin v. Waddell (1842) applied the Doctrine of Discovery to oyster beds, asserting European discovery gave absolute property rights.
McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) upheld Creek Nation jurisdiction while affirming federal plenary power based on the Doctrine of Discovery.
Teddy Roosevelt’s 1904 Monroe Doctrine Corollary asserted U.S. imperial dominion over the Western Hemisphere and its indigenous peoples.
Tee Hit Ton v. U.S. (1955) denied Native peoples compensation for lands taken by the U.S. government under the Doctrine of Discovery.
The Monroe Doctrine (1823) extended U.S. claims of ‘ultimate dominion’ over the Western Hemisphere, following the Doctrine of Discovery.
UC professors attempted to prevent repatriation of Kumeyaay Nation ancestral remains, invoking tribal sovereignty immunity doctrines.
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...
Consent is a fundamental Indigenous right that exists in a reciprocal relationship with all other Indigenous rights. However, the role of consent is especial...
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.
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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,...
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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...
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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).
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 ...
The Doctrine of Christian Discovery is a series of fifteenth-century papal bulls that served as the theological and legal justification for the colonization ...
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...
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.”
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.
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.
UC professors attempted to prevent repatriation of Kumeyaay Nation ancestral remains, invoking tribal sovereignty immunity doctrines. 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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
Keywords: Settler colonialism, higher education, land grant, the Whipple Report, Onondaga Nation, Syracuse University Archive context. Archive context.
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.
On the limits of Sublimis Deus (also called Sublimis Dei). This Outcome pointer preserves canonical archive context. Archive context. Archive context.
Doctrine of Discovery, Brazilian Literature, Indigenous Peoples, Amazon Forest, Yanomami, Environment, Colonization, Imperialism, Rainforest, Indigenous.
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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.
A CONVERSATION WITH PHILIP P. ARNOLD AND VICTOR TAYLOR ON THE URGENCY OF INDIGENOUS VALUES
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 ...
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...
Watch Now Now Streaming
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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...
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...
Introduction
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...
Dive into Reclaiming Faith: Dismantling White Christian Supremacy and Healing Through Indigenous Spirituality with Soulforce!
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.
Listen to the podcast on Megaphone, Spotify or Apple.
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 ...
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...
Keywords: Settler colonialism, higher education, land grant, the Whipple Report, Onondaga Nation, Syracuse University
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...
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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...
Philip P. Arnold, The Urgency of Indigenous Values, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2023), ISBN: 9780815638087.
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...
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...
This conference will connect the dots between our current pandemic, environmental devastation, the Doctrine of Discovery, and a way forward.
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...
In 1988 the United States Supreme Court declared constitutional the federal government’s development plan in the High Country, aboriginal homeland of the Kar...
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...
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...
On the limits of Sublimis Deus (also called Sublimis Dei).
The Haudenosaunee are embarking on an historic project about the 500-year history of the Haudenosaunee, their relationship with Europe and America and their ...
Complete list of all of the talks and bonus content
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 conference will take place at Syracuse University from 8-10 December 2023.
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...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Doctrine of Discovery.
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...
Resources mentioned durined the sessions.