Permalink: https://doi.org/10.1353/cro.2024.a963635

Abstract

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 our time through our oral histories and traditions, contrasted with the system of domination that was carried by ship across the ocean and imposed on everyone and everything. From that starting point we end up with a non-Christian view-from-the-shore with our Ancestors looking out at the invading ships sailing from Western Christendom, and a view-from-the-ship perspective, with the colonizers moving toward our Ancestors with the intention of establishing the Christian empire's system of domination where it did not yet exist

INTRODUCTION

the 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 our time through our oral histories and traditions, contrasted with the system of domination that was carried by ship across the ocean and imposed on everyone and everything. From that starting point we end up with a non-Christian view-from-the-shore with our Ancestors looking out at the invading ships sailing from Western Christendom, and a view-from-the-ship perspective, with the colonizers moving toward our Ancestors with the intention of establishing the Christian empire's system of domination where it did not yet exist. Below we discuss the recent Vatican Statement on the Doctrine of Discovery with a view-from-the-shore perspective, while realizing that the Vatican officials wrote their statement with a view-from-the-ship (church) perspective.

the indigenous law institute

In 1992, Birgil Kills Straight, (1940–2019)1 (a traditional Head Man and ceremonial leader of the Oglala Lakota Nation) and I founded the Indigenous Law Institute (ILI),2 and began a global campaign regarding the so-called "Doctrine of Discovery." We began our efforts by calling upon then Pope John Paul II (JPII) to formally revoke a 1493 papal bull, Inter Caetera,3 which Pope Alexander VI issued shortly after Columbus returned to Western Christendom from the Bahamas. In 1993, we presented our call for a revocation of the papal bull of May 4, 14934 to the Parliament of the World's Religions, and assisted with the drafting of a resolution titled, "Declaration of Vision: Toward the Next 500 Years."5

Guided by our deep appreciation of Birgil's wisdom and mentorship, we continue with our efforts,6 and we are maintaining our call7 for the [End Page 431] Holy See to revoke the papal bull of May 4, 1493.8 We continue to carry on our global campaign against the patterns of domination unleashed on the planet by those ancient Vatican documents9 which have been imposed on Indigenous nations and peoples and incorporated into U.S. federal Indian law and Canadian Indian law.

After thirty years10 of effort11 and momentum, the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education, and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, issued a "Joint Statement" on the "Doctrine of Discovery."12 The Vatican stopped short of a revocation of the May 4 papal bull, issuing instead a "repudiation of the doctrine of discovery." The following analysis is intended to take a closer look at the Vatican statement, while explaining some usually overlooked connections between the Bible and what we prefer to call the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Domination.

The opening sentence of the Vatican's March 30, 2023 statement refers to a "mandate received from Christ." Matthew 28:18–20, in the Bible, expresses a mandate to baptize all nations. That, and the mandate of Genesis 1:28, are traced to a number of Papal Bulls issued during the fifteenth century. That mandate is sometimes known as "the faith-sharing mandate" and "The Great Commission." In that biblical passage from the Vulgate Bible,13 Jesus is quoted as saying, "All authority [potestas, in Latin] in heaven and on earth has been given to me [Jesus Christ]. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (emphasis added). In other words, baptize them and make them followers of Christ. This has been described as "the Lord's world-wide commission."14

Some Vatican officials might say that the reference to a "mandate" in the March 30 Statement is not "reducible to a single text" from the Bible, otherwise that specific text would have been quoted. They might say that the reference to "the mandate received from Christ" is "a general summary mandate that reflects Scripture, as well as the evolving understanding of the Church's mission." Nonetheless, the word "mandate" is accurately interpreted as...