#doctrine of discovery

[shadeslayer]

[Doctrine of] Discovery negated the rights of the Indian tribes to sovereignty and equality among the nations of the world. It took away their title to their land and gave them the right only to sell. And they had to sell it to the European nation that had discovered their land.

Vine Deloria Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, first published in 1969

[jayswing101]

The doctrine of discovery is one of the core concepts used to justify colonialism, especially of the settler variety. This is what the Canadian Museum of Human Rights says about it:

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 European peoples, culture and religion were superior to all others.

The doctrine of discovery comes from a series of declarations from the pope in the 1400s that suggested christianity and christian cultures were superior to all other religions and cultures, and basically said that christian europeans had the right to invade and claim land and resources from non-christian people, and also had the right to subjugate and convert those populations. It's literally at the very core of colonial history and the myth of white supremacy and christian supremacy.

When the pope was visiting Indigenous communities in canada last summer, more than an apology for the catholic church's role in residential schools, what people were asking for was the overturning of the doctrine of discovery. An apology is meaningless as long as that doctrine stands.

Today, the vatican formally rejected the doctrine of discovery. It's a symbolic gesture, sure. But it's still a sign that things are changing. Space was held for Indigenous voices, and the vatican of all places listened to them.

Obviously, there's still work to be done, and colonization didn't just suddenly end because of this announcement, but this is still huge news, and it feels like we're a tiny step closer to Land Back.

[thoughtportal]

More than five centuries after it was formulated in a series of papal decrees, the Vatican issued a formal announcement on March 30 repudiating the Euro-supremacist “Doctrine of Discovery.” In essence, the “doctrine” said that all lands not occupied by “Christians” passed into the hands of the European conquerors as soon as they were “discovered,” and their inhabitants enslaved.

Composed of decrees issued between 1452 and 1497, it served as the quasi-legal justification for the expropriation of entire continents in the name of spreading the Catholic faith. The repudiation by the Pope is the culmination of decades of struggle by Indigenous peoples in the United States, Canada and around the world demanding its withdrawal.

But while the Pope has now renounced it, the U.S. Supreme Court has not. The high court continues to treat the “doctrine” as an integral basis of U.S. law, particularly in regard to the rights — or lack thereof — of Native peoples.

Most notable in recent times was a 2005 decision authored by the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg which invoked the “Doctrine of Discovery” in her majority ruling against the Oneida Indian Nation. The Oneidas were seeking to recover lands and rights in central New York State guaranteed to them under the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua treaty with the U.S., signed by George Washington, then president.

The Oneidas, one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy were awarded 300,000 acres “in perpetuity” by the treaty. By the 20th century, nearly all of that land had been taken over. In the 1970s, the Oneidas began buying small parcels on what had been their reservation land, including in the small city of Sherill, New York. They objected to the demand by the city that they pay property taxes on the basis that they were a sovereign nation. While the Oneidas won in lower federal courts, the Supreme Court ruled against them 8-1, with Ginsburg authoring the decision:

“Under the Doctrine of Discovery, title to the land occupied by Indians when the colonists arrived became vested in the sovereign – first the discovering European nation and later the original states and the United States . . .

“Given the longstanding non-Indian character of the area and its inhabitants, the regulatory authority constantly exercised by New York State and its counties and towns, and the Oneidas’ long delay in seeking judicial relief against parties other than the United States, we hold that the tribe cannot unilaterally revive its ancient sovereignty, in whole or in part, over the parcels at issue.”

In 2020, the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote upheld the right of Native nations to reservations that would have included nearly half of Oklahoma. While this was a victory for a coalition of Native nations, right-wing justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion upholding the government’s power to deny the right of self-determination to Indian peoples.

“Once a reservation is established, it retains that status until Congress explicitly indicates otherwise,” wrote Gorsuch. “Only Congress can alter the terms of an Indian treaty by diminishing a reservation, and its intent to do so must be clear and plain.”

How did a loathsome “doctrine” authored in feudal times come to have what liberal and conservative Supreme Court justices alike consider a legitimate basis in U.S. law?

It was the Supreme Court itself that incorporated the “doctrine” into U.S. law, which became foundational in dealing with Native nations, in a key 1823 case, Johnson v. McIntosh.

The decision by Chief Justice John Marshall, declared that, in keeping with the “Doctrine of Discovery,” Native people had only the “right to occupancy” of land and not the right to title or ownership. Only the federal government, Marshall ruled, could own and sell Native lands and that “the principle of discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands”

Following the Vatican’s repudiation, the struggle will intensify for the U.S. government to do the same.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The Vatican's formal repudiation of colonial-era concepts that legitimized the seizure of Indigenous lands marked a symbolic step forward on Thursday, but its impact on modern policy will be the true measure of change, say Indigenous leaders. The Doctrine of Discovery, a set of theories backed by 15th-century papal bulls, continues to form the foundation of some property law today. A Vatican statement said the 15th-century papal bulls, or decrees, "did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples" and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith. "On the surface it sounds good, it looks good ... but there has to be a fundamental change in attitudes, behaviour, laws and policies from that statement," Ernie Daniels, the former chief of Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba, said in an interview on Thursday.

[...]

"The Vatican seems to be washing its hands of its role in the whole colonization of our lands, and to me it would be so simple to just accept the fact that they played a role," [Ghislain Picard] said.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[cupsofsilver]

Y’all this is huge news. Holy shit (literally).

[petejj]

‘Doctrines of Discovery’

postcolonial decolonisation

brooding looting

binding dying

terra nullious

subjugate confiscate

repudiation no reconciliation

proclamations of Christian’s rights

displacements entangle decrees

The Crown.

underlining tytles

dispel

first nations sovereignty

Dignity.

1492-1788

[ausetkmt]

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHATTEL SLAVERY BY THE CATHOLIC POPE NICHOLAS V 6/18/1452

Papal Bull Dum Diversas 18 June, 1452

Permalink

Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas on 18 June, 1452. It authorised Alfonso V of Portugal to reduce any “Saracens (Muslims) and pagans and any other unbelievers” to perpetual slavery.

This facilitated the Portuguese slave trade from West Africa.

The same pope wrote the bull Romanus Pontifex on January 5, 1455 to the same Alfonso. As a follow-up to the Dum diversas, it extended to the Catholic nations of Europe dominion over discovered lands during the Age of Discovery. Along with sanctifying the seizure of non-Christian lands, it encouraged the enslavement of native, non-Christian peoples in Africa and the New World.

“We weighing all and singular the premises with due meditation, and noting that since we had formerly by other letters of ours granted among other things free and ample faculty to the aforesaid King Alfonso – to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms, counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his and their use and profit – by having secured the said faculty, the said King Alfonso, or, by his authority, the aforesaid infante, justly and lawfully has acquired and possessed, and doth possess, these islands, lands, harbors, and seas, and they do of right belong and pertain to the said King Alfonso and his successors”.

In 1493 Alexander VI issued the bull Inter Caetera stating one Christian nation did not have the right to establish dominion over lands previously dominated by another Christian nation, thus establishing the Law of Nations. Together, the Dum Diversas, the Romanus Pontifex and the Inter Caetera came to serve as the basis and justification for the Doctrine of Discovery, the global slave-trade of the 15th and 16th centuries, and the Age of Imperialism.  

Dum Diversas (Latin Original).

Papal Bulls

SUGGESTED CITATION

Indigenous Values Initiative, "Dum Diversas," Doctrine of Discovery Project (23 July 2018), https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/dum-diversas/.

[seileach67]

The pope's document from the 1500s blows me away

[carolinemillerbooks]

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/harry-potter-v-doctrine-of-discovery/

Harry Potter v. Doctrine of Discovery

I threw a DVD  of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” into my player last night.  I needed a touch of innocence to block out the television news.  Hard to accept but the real world had grown more fantastical, dark, and insane, than makebelieve. In the episode I selected, Neville Longbottom proves to be a hero. Knowing his friends Harry, Hermione, and Ron intend to break curfew and dishonor Gryffindor, he blocks their escape. “I’ll fight you,” he says shakily, his small fists rolled into balls to prove he means what he says. In the real world, Nikki Halley could have used Longbottom’s courage.  She accused Donald Trump of being unhinged, but like the rest of her peers in the Republican Party, she endorsed him. Fear rather than admiration was the reason. Each of them preferred to suffer the reign of an avowed tyrant and his band of Christian Nationalists rather than risk their careers.    To take a stand against allies and friends is difficult as studies show.  In turbulent times, only the brave are willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.  Of the 7 Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, for example, only 2 survived the next election.  The rest faded away though the nation owes them a debt.    Though they may not know it, Trump and his band of White Christian Nationalists can trace their sense of a right to govern to the Doctrine of Discovery. Written in 1493, this Papal Bull was an answer to a question that troubled Christopher Columbus.  After returning from the New World with a plan to set out again, he wondered how he should treat the inhabitants of these faraway lands. The Holy See’s answer was unequivocal. Columbus owed heathens nothing except to convert them to the faith.   Chief Justice John Marshall answered the same question concerning American Indian rights in Johnson v. McIntosh  (1823)  When white Christian farmers settled on lands belonging to the Oneida Nation, the Indians sued. Marshall relied on the Doctrine of Discover in his response.  He defined the Indians as “occupiers” of the land, but assigned ownership to the white Christians. It may surprise some to learn this prejudice persisted in American law as late as 2005. That was the year Ruth Bader Ginsberg decided a case on the same Papal grounds even though Pope Francis had rescinded the Bull in 2003.  PPRI,  a nonprofit research group that focuses on the intersection of religion, culture, and politics, published a poll regarding the Doctrine of Discovery in 2022.  The question they asked was, “Do you agree or disagree that America was designed by God to be a promised land for European Christians?” Thirty percent of those who answered agreed with the statement. Republicans form the nucleus of Christianity in this country so a number of those who replied were probably Christian conservatives. In any case, this nostalgia for injustices of the past comes at a time of demographic change in the United States.  “Self-identified Republicans today are 70 percent white and Christian in a country that is only 42% white and Christian.” (“Finding the Hidden Roots of White Supremacy,” by Robert P. Jones, FFRF, May 2024, pg. 13.) Understandably, in 2020, when a defeated Trump claimed the election was rigged, the Christian right believed him and their response grew to a full-throated rage that culminated in an assault upon our nation’s Capitol. The rebellion was quelled but the fury remained, erupting sporadically in violence or threats of violence. During this period of turbulence, the Supreme Court seems to be administering law and order with an uneven hand.  Many who participated in the Capito riot have gone to jail.  On the other hand, the High Court has made it increasingly difficult to prosecute verbal assault. In Counterman v. Colorado, for example, the Supreme Court ruled that violent speech has First Amendment protection and is prosecutable only if the perpetrator has “some subjective understanding of the threatening nature of his statements.”    Political threats come from all sides of the philosophical spectrum, of course, but they are increasing in number and the range of those targeted is widening. In 2021, the National League of Cities published a poll that shows public servants have come under heavy assault.  The political climate has become so toxic that a former head of the Republican Party told 60 Minutes he went along with a scheme to overturn the 2020 election because he was “scared to death.” Likewise, former Georgia Governor, Roy Barnes  admitted he refused to assist district attorney Farni Willis in her prosecution of Donald Trump because  “I wasn’t going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life.” History informs us that defending our democracy takes courage.  In a speech given at Harvard University, Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor reminded us of this fact when she praised the jurists who ended segregation in our public schools. (Brown v. Board of Education)  “They were brave men who believed in the power of law to form that more perfect union, and I believe it,” she said.  We all need to believe it for we have stumbled upon a time when the assault upon our democracy is coming not only from external enemies but from our fellow citizens.  I refer to those who defend the idea that some of us are occupiers and others are owners. In an earlier blog, I predicted a blue wave was coming. The prediction wasn’t magical thinking.  That wave will arrive come November. In a free land, ordinary people like Neville Longbottom will always rise to defend their country in a time of crisis.    

[journey2life]

2022 Reading List + Other Learning Notes {#tywlife}

This particular list includes a lot of documentaries and video content as well. Links have been included to the material. There is so SO much more, however. I've been consuming so much content in the past 2 years. I'm grateful more content has been made.

*New for 2022: I’ve started to track “unfinished”books as well. These are books I’ve decided not to continue reading for the sake of “completing” the task. It’s me realizing the book and ideas in it are not for me anymore. Perhaps at this particularly moment in my life. But I’m practicing listening to myself and learning to move on/let go when I’ve recognized and felt something that’s not…

[sublimeobservationarcade]

What Is The Doctrine Of Discovery?

The Doctrine Of Discovery In 1493, God’s official head honcho on Earth, released a Papal decree, which was called The Doctrine of Discovery. This was the green light from the Pope that stealing, killing, and enslaving non-Christians was okey dokey. That explorers and settlers could do whatever they thought necessary to conquer and colonise the new world. Christopher Colombus had just discovered…

[tatterdemallionsails]

I love this woman so damned much! This article is from June of last year, but no less relevant.

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

Songwriter, educator and human rights advocate Buffy Sainte-Marie says the Pope’s upcoming visit to Canada and expected apology for the church’s involvement in the residential school system won’t mean a thing if he doesn’t call for the dissolution of the Doctrine of Discovery.

“The apology is just the beginning, of course,” she said.

The doctrine is an international framework based on a series of decrees from the Pope, called “papal bulls,” that were released in the 1400 and 1500s. This framework laid the legal and moral foundation for how Canada and other countries came to be colonized by European settlers.

As Sainte-Marie put it, “The Doctrine of Discovery essentially says it’s okay if you’re a [Christian] European explorer … to go anywhere in the world and either convert people and enslave, or you’ve got to kill them.”

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[minnesotafollower]

Roman Catholic Church Rejects Doctrine of Discovery

In the 15th century, the Roman Catholic Church issued several papal bulls announcing what became known as the doctrine of discovery that authorized various European powers to conquer the lands of non-Christians. In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the bull Dum Diversas, which authorized King Alfonzo of Portugal to “subjugate the Saracens and pagans and other unbelievers and enemies of Christ” and…

[ncfcatalyst]

Vatican repudiates Doctrine of Discovery 600 years after its inception

600 years after creating the Doctrine of Discovery, the Catholic church is repudiating it. On Mar. 30, the Vatican, Roman Catholicism’s governmental body, announced it was “repudiat[ing] those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of indigenous peoples including…the Doctrine of Discovery.”   The Doctrine of Discovery was written in 1452 C.E. as part of a series of papal…

[spokanefavs]

The Vatican is rejecting the Doctrine of Discovery and Rebecca Tallent says Indigenous people are saying 'at last'

"After 571 years, on March 30 the Vatican finally rejected its “Doctrine of Discovery.” The doctrine sanctioned the conquest, colonization and exploitation of non-Christian people and territories.

The sound from the Americas at the announcement was a collective “at last” by Indigenous people who for generations had demanded reversal of the 1452 papal bulls.

The doctrine was fully developed by a series of 15th century papal bulls and creating the doctrine was responsible of the seizure of lands, enslavement, and exploitation of Indigenous people for more than 500 years."