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
An often-heard truism among homeland Filipinos in conversations with their diasporic counterparts in the United States is the notion that race and racism are irrelevant categories when it comes to the Philippines. 'Don't export your racism to us,' is the usual protest. 'There's no racism in the Philippines.We all descend from the islands' original peoples.' Wary—and rightfully so—of the often-decontextualized exportation of debates and discourses to the home country (as has been the case historically in a kind of center-periphery trajectory), one interlocutor quips: 'You cannot employ the white settler colonizer vs. Indigenous in North America to the paradigm of the Philippines. … People from the Philippines, yes, including many from different Indigenous groups … do not consider themselves so removed from [other] Filipinos who are not part of their heritage.'
S. Lily Mendoza
Christian Nationalism in the Lithuanian Context
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 Lithuania, was baptized Christian, and Lithuania was placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. The Dominicans led crusades against pagans in Prussia and Livonia. Later papal Bulls by Pope Alexander IV further solidified Roman Catholic dominance in Lithuania. The Roman Catholic Church has played a significant role in Lithuania's history and continues to influence its national identity. Christian Nationalism, intertwined with Roman Catholicism, shapes Lithuania's social and political order. Religious NGOs and the Lithuanian Parliament play a role in preserving traditional values and opposing perceived threats. The conflict between Roman Catholicism and traditional Baltic religion, exemplified by the Romuva community, reflects tensions in defining Lithuanian national identity.
Eglutė Trinkauskaitė
Perkinson discusses the origins of colonialism and white supremacy, tracing it back to the relationship with the land. He explores the shift from pastoral-nomad lifeways to city-state agriculture, leading to a myth of cultivar sovereignty and Christian supremacy. He argues that white supremacy is rooted in a myth of mastery over the non-human world, with a focus on urban-centered control of land. He highlights the resistance of pastoral nomad traditions against city-state coercion and the importance of a respectful land-based symbiosis. Furthermore, he stresses that the deep historical taproot of white supremacy implies a particular relationship to land centered in cities, supported by farmlands, and ultimately leading to the enslavement of both land and non-humankind.
James W. Perkinson
The Religious Origins of White Supremacy and The Doctrine of Christian Discovery
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 helping to make this special issue a success. Again, we would like to extend our gratitude to all of our sponsors, funders, friends, colleagues, and of course conference attendees. Together we rise and work together to challenge and combat the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Johnson V. M'Intosh. As we bring this issue to a close we would like to outline the scope of future work and next steps, inviting all of you to join us in the furtherance of this work. However, our research is going to be going in four main directions moving forward.
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
Documenting Domination in International Relations Through the Doctrine of Discovery
The American Indian Law Alliance (AILA) was founded in 1989 by Tonya Gonnella Frichner as an Indigenous, non-profit organization advocating for sovereignty, human rights, and social justice for Indigenous peoples. AILA works at the international level to support and advocate for Indigenous nations. In 2010, Gonnella Frichner submitted a Preliminary Study on The Impact on Indigenous Peoples of The Doctrine of Discovery to the United Nations. The study highlighted the ongoing effects of the Doctrine of Discovery on Indigenous peoples globally. AILA continues to call for a follow-up study by the United Nations. The organization also works to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery through advocacy and collaboration with other organizations. Here, Brett and Hill discuss the history of the Doctrine of Discovery, the work of Indigenous nations in international diplomacy, and the importance of shifting from a rights-based approach to a responsibility-based approach. He emphasize the need for collective action to challenge the Doctrine of Discovery and create a more just and sustainable world.
Adam DJ Brett
Betty Hill (Lyons)
Book Notes: New Books in the Study of Domination
Brett and Hill review several books, including The Urgency of Indigenous Values by Philip P. Arnold, Banning Black Gods: Law and Religions of the African Diaspora by Danielle N. Boaz and Voodoo: The History of a Racial Slur by Danielle N. Boaz.
Adam DJ Brett
Betty Hill (Lyons)
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