Volume 74, Number 4, December 2024
Produced through a partnership between The Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life (APRIL), CrossCurrents, the Indigenous Values Initiative (IVI), and Syracuse University.
Produced through a partnership between The Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life (APRIL), CrossCurrents, the Indigenous Values Initiative (IVI), and Syracuse University. 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 (JvM): 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. The 200th anniversary of JvM provided an excellent moment to challenge the theology and jurisprudence of the DoCD and this critical Supreme Court decision. The project delved into a range of products and written works such are included in this volume. The essays, podcasts, conference, and public outreach activities of the project grant have helped to raise awareness about the harmful impacts of the DoCD.
Published: 30 June 2025
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 (doctrineofdiscovery.org). We received three years of funding for "200 Years of Johnson v. M'Intosh (JvM): 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.
The 200th anniversary of JvM provided an excellent moment to challenge the theology and jurisprudence of the DoCD and this critical Supreme Court decision. The project delved into a range of products and written works such are included in this volume. The essays, podcasts, conference, and public outreach activities of the project grant have helped to raise awareness about the harmful impacts of the DoCD.
About
Our methods are guided by Haudenosaunee ideas of peace, the environment, and freedom and democracy. The Haudenosaunee have retained their pre-colonial matrilineal clan system of governance and remain among the last sovereign Indigenous peoples in the U.S., if not the world, who still govern themselves by their ancient ceremonial Longhouse practices according to "The Great Law of Peace." As such, we look to the Haudenosaunee as the forgotten founders of Western Democracy. In the Two Row Wampum Treaty, an agreement made between the Haudenosaunee and Dutch settlers in 1613, Haudenosaunee agreed to co-inhabit the land with European-Americans without interference on either side. The "silver covenant chain" used during the negotiations represented the intercultural understanding that required effort and attention by both people. The Two-Row Wampum is more than a treaty; it is living covenant that provides a theory and a method for how the values of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy can inform and enhance not only inter-Indigenous collaborations but also deep and abiding solidarity with and from non-Indigenous peoples.
Articles
A poem is presented - 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 Foreseen long before your arrival Because we had established equivalent equity Millennium prior to your pilgrimage of biblical conquest And your utopian misunderstanding of our communities And your fear of the unknown
Sawatis Frushell
Travelling Along the River of Life
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 the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, emphasizing the importance of peace and the responsibility to consider future generations. He also reflects on the impact of inequity, racism, and the need for change.
Oren Lyons
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 effects of domination and undo the belief in white superiority. Healing is needed between Indigenous people and those seeking reconciliation after a difficult history. Efforts are being made to address the effects of the boarding school era on Native families. Apologies have been made, but change is necessary. Steps towards healing and recovery include admitting harmful beliefs, sharing with others, releasing emotions, and resolving not to harm others in the future. Being an ally and speaking up against hatred and threats to Native people is important.
Whatweni:neh Freida J. Jacques
Comments on the Bishop's Panel: Transcription of Conference Presentation
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 for me to be sitting here on a panel with 3 bishops. It's true there is plenty of sin like was mentioned and more of it has come to the surface. We hear about the promises today and we heard about the confessions. We have to stick with the truth, and the truth of the matter is there is no trust.
Jake Haiwhagai'i Edwards
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
Steven T. Newcomb
The Construction of Indigenous Americans and Spanish Conquistadors in Theodore de Bry's Engravings
The primary visual sources depicting the treatment of Indigenous peoples by conquerors, particularly the works of Protestant engraver Theodore de Bry, offer valuable insights into the interactions between European explorers and Indigenous Americans. De Bry's illustrations, influenced by Bartolomé de Las Casas's accounts of Spanish atrocities, serve as a condemnation of Spanish Catholic colonization in the Americas. Through his engravings, de Bry politicizes and weaponizes Indigenous bodies, portraying them as deserving of conquest and civilizing, albeit by Protestant conquerors. His depictions of Indigenous peoples, based on biased accounts relayed from explorers, perpetuate stereotypes used to justify colonization. De Bry's Protestant vision, evident in his works, advocates for Protestant colonization as a preferable alternative to Spanish Catholic conquest. Despite condemning Spanish abuses, de Bry's ultimate goal is not to end colonialism but to promote Protestant colonization in the Americas.
Isabel V. Maine-Torres
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