Doctrine of Discovery and Its Enduring Impact on Indigenous Peoples
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The Haudenosaunee Story
Column One: Imagine inventing a sport and then being shunned by it. That's the Haudenosaunee story David Wharton , LA Times•August 21, 2020 The Haudenosaunee invented the sport of lacrosse, though they say lacrosse is a gift from the creator. (Iroquois Nationals Archives) More Before all the haggling, the ugly words and political machinations, there was a happier story. The way the Haudenosaunee people tell it, the animals of the forest gathered for a great ballgame. The powerful bear and swift deer led one team; on the other side stood the hawk, eagle and owl. Just before the start, a mouse and squirrel approached the birds, asking to join in. It seems they had been rejected by the larger four-legged animals because of their size. The birds welcomed them. This ancestral tale serves as a metaphor for the Haudenosaunee, a confederacy of Native American communities scattered across the Northeast, and the sometimes uneasy relationship they have with the sport they invented. Lacrosse began as a rough-hewn contest played on stretches of open land with sticks made from hickory and catgut. It has increased greatly in popularity over the last two decades, with armies of high school and college players charging around manicured fields, dressed in bright uniforms and plastic helmets, their sticks bolstered with carbon fiber. The world championship attracts teams from around the globe. The Haudenosaunee (hoad-nah-SHAW-nee) have fought to keep pace with the times. Their homegrown squad, the Iroquois Nationals, draws from a small talent pool but usually ranks in the top five internationally. -
Who Owns the Water in the West? an Overview of the Challenges Facing Private Prior Appropriation & Federal Reserved Water Ri
Lawrence Kogan, Esq. NY, NJ, DC Of Counsel: James Wagner, Esq. MA Fred B. Wilcon, Esq. MA Who Owns the Water in the West? An Overview of the Challenges Facing Private Prior Appropriation & Federal Reserved Water Rights © By Lawrence A. Kogan, Esq. Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law 2nd Symposium Energy & the Environment: The Interplay of Regulations and Natural Resources Law & Policy Lexington, Kentucky March 2, 2016 I. Privately Owned Water Rights A. Water is a Property Right i. Water is a form of property b/c the holder of the water right has a thing of value that can be alienated - provide economic benefits to him. Palmer v. Railroad Comm'n, 167 Cal. 163, 138 P. 997 (1914). ii. But, the corpus of the water cannot be ‘owned’ if it remains in the stream, “‘because…so long as it continues to run there cannot be that possession of it which is essential to ownership.’” Instead, it is only a usufructuary right to the water. Maricopa County Mun. Water Conservation Dist. v. Southwest Cotton Co., 4 P.2d 369 (Ariz. 1931); Palmer v. Railroad Comm'n of Cal., 138 P. 997, 999 (Cal. 1914). B. Riparian Doctrine (Abundance of Water) – private landowners have property rights (consumptive and non-consumptive access & beneficial use rights) in the waters contiguous to their lands (lakes, streams). Lux v. Haggin, 69 Cal. 255, 10 P. 674 (1886). Private landowners also possess a right of access to adjacent navigable waters. Board of Trustees v. Maderia Beach Nominee, Inc., 272 So. 2d 209, 214 (Fla. -
Indigenous Visioning Circle Resources
Indigenous Visioning Circle Resources Books** Bigelow, Bill and Bob Peterson, editors. (1998) Rethinking Columbus – The Next 500 Years . Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools Brown, Dee. (1970) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – An Indian History of the American West . New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company Michael F. Brown. (2003) Who Owns Native Culture? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Deloria Jr, Vine. (1985) Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties – An Indian Declaration of Independence . Austin, TX: University of Texas Press Deloria Jr, Vine. (1969) Custer Died for Your Sins. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company *Heinrichs, Steve, editor. (2013) Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry. Waterloo, ON: Herald Press *King, Thomas. (2013) The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press LaDuke, Winona. (1999) All Our Relations – Native Struggles for Land and Life . Cambridge, MA: South End Press Mander, Jerry. (1991) In the Absence of the Sacred - The Failure of Technology & the Survival of the Indian Nations (Chapters 11 – 13 and Chapters 15 – 18). San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books McCaslin , Wanda D., editor. (2005) Justice as Healing: Indigenous Ways . St. Paul, MN: Living Justice Press Stannard, David E. (1992) American Holocaust – The Conquest of the New World. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Tinker, George E. (2008) American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books Tinker, George E. (1993) Missionary Conquest – The Gospel and Native American Genocide. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press *study guide included/available **All books available from MCC Central States lending library: (316)-283-2720, [email protected] Online resources (search by title) Websites: Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery - A movement of Anabaptist people of faith Website coordinating the efforts of the (Mennonite) Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition – including video (see below), educational resources and timeline. -
The Christian Doctrine of Discovery
The Christian Doctrine of Discovery By Dan Whittemore, Denver, Colorado, USA For centuries, indigenous peoples around the world have suffered the disastrous impact of European colonization. As a Christian, descended from Europeans, I am remorseful and repentant because I am complicit in this problem. Undoubtedly some of my ancestors helped create the situation that has resulted in discrimination and prejudicial and derogatory concepts of the original inhabitants. Broken contracts, ignorance of native culture and spirituality, and illegitimate appropriation of lands have contributed to poverty and psychological damage that persist. We are challenged to examine the root causes and make corrections. The centuries-old Christian Doctrine of Discovery, if repudiated, could initiate justice for all indigenous people. The Doctrine of Discovery is the premise that European Christian explorers who “discovered” other lands had the authority to claim those lands and subdue, even enslave, peoples simply because they were not Christian. This concept has become embedded in the legal policies of countries throughout the world. This is an issue of greed, oppression, colonialism, and racism. The doctrine’s origins can be traced to Pope Nicholas V, who issued the papal bull1 Romanus Pontifex in 1455 CE. The bull allowed Portugal to claim and conquer lands in West Africa. After Christopher Columbus began conquering newly “found” lands in the Americas, Pope Alexander VI granted to Spain the right to claim these lands with the papal bull, Inter caetera, issued in 1493. The Treaty of Tordesillas settled competition between Spain and Portugal. It established two principles: 1) that only non-Christian lands could be taken, and 2) that potential discoveries would be allocated between Portugal and Spain by drawing a line of demarcation. -
Doctrine of Discovery: Questions and Answers
Doctrine of Discovery: Questions and Answers Q. What is the Doctrine of Discovery? The Doctrine of Discovery is a principle of international law dating from the late 15th century. It has its roots in a papal decree issued by Pope Nicholas V in 1452 that specifically sanctioned and promoted the conquest, colonization, and exploitation of non-Christian territories and peoples. Hundreds of years of decisions and laws continuing right up to our own time can ultimately be traced back to the Doctrine of Discovery—laws that invalidate or ignore the rights, sovereignty, and humanity of indigenous peoples in the United States and around the world. Q. Why does the Doctrine of Discovery still matter when it is over 500 years old? It is still in effect and is written into settled US law since 1823 about a land dispute between two individuals (Under Chief Justice John Marshall). It forms the basis for “Manifest Destiny,” the expansion into Indian lands. It is used to justify legal and forcible takeover of indigenous lands, without just compensation. The Discovery Doctrine is a concept of public international law expounded by the United States Supreme Court in a series of decisions, most notably Johnson v. McIntosh in 1823. In this Supreme Court case, Chief Justice John Marshall's opinion in the unanimous decision held "that the principle of discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands." In essence, American Indians had only a right of occupancy, which could be abolished.” (Source: www.redlakenationnews.com/story/2017/06/15/news/doctrine- of-discovery-repudiated/61672.html) It is used to interpret Indian Treaties in a way that has undermined treaty rights. -
Summit of the Elders Haudenosaunee Environmental Restoration
HflUDEHOSflUnEE EHUIRQnmEflTHL RESTORHTiOn An Indigenous Strategy for Human SustainabiHty Summit of the Elders Haudenosaunee Environmental Restoration Tuesday, July 18th 1995, Trusteeship Council, United Nations - New York Native Americans Respond to Rio Summit MEDIA KIT CONTENTS: • INFORMATION RELEASE • BACKGROUND - HAUDENOSAUNEE HISTORY • BACKGROUND - UNEP PARTNERS • UN AGENDA - JULY 18 INFORMATION RELEASE JULY 10, 1995 Cambridge/New York NATIVE AMERICANS RESPOND TO RIO SUMMIT Pollution has heavily impacted the Haudenosaunee people, who rely on their water and land resources for subsistence. After several months of intensive study and investigation, the leaders of the Haudenosaunee have produced a report on the source and nature of the hazards to which their communities are exposed, and have formulated an environmental restoration plan. Consisting of six historically linked nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga and Tuscarora, the Haudenosaunee were once a powerful group in northeast America, and their alliance was eagerly sought by the contending European colonial powers in America. The thirteen original colonies of the United States took many ideas on democracy from the Haudenosaunee, even using their concept of a confederacy as a model for the U.S. Constitution. The Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy, are now working closely with the United Nations to review environmental pollution and mapping a strategy of environmental restoration. Their strategy constitutes one of the first indigenous responses to Chapter 26, Agenda 21 of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the International Decade of the World Indigenous People declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1994. This document, prepared with the support of UNEP's partnership programme Indigenous Development International (INDI) at Cambridge University, represents the first comprehensive indigenous restoration strategy whereby the Haudenosaunee peoples have defined the problems they are confronting and recommended measures for their remediation. -
The Law of Native American Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Outside of Reservation Boundaries in the United States and Canada
Canada-United States Law Journal Volume 39 Issue Article 5 January 2014 The Law of Native American Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Outside of Reservation Boundaries in the United States and Canada Guy Charlton Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cuslj Part of the Transnational Law Commons Recommended Citation Guy Charlton, The Law of Native American Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Outside of Reservation Boundaries in the United States and Canada, 39 Can.-U.S. L.J. 69 (2015) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cuslj/vol39/iss/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canada-United States Law Journal by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. THE LAW OF NATIVE AMERICAN HUNTING, FISHING AND GATHERING RIGHTS OUTSIDE OF RESERVATION BOUNDARIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA Guy Charlton* ABSTRACT: This article examines and compares the law of Native American/Aboriginal hunting, fishing and gathering rights in those areas which are located outside of reserved land area in Canada and the United States. The article argues that despite the differing statutory and constitutional traditions, both states’ law and policy towards the Native American continues to reflect the underlying premises of the colonial project. While indigenous peoples have significant use rights, national, state and provincial power remains the primary locus of regulatory authority. However, there may be opportunities to extend use and co-management rights to allow tribes to be involved in land use and environmental regulatory decisions. -
Deconstructing the Doctrine of Discovery
FOLLOW Indian Country Today Archives Deconstructing the Doctrine of Discovery David E. Wilkins Oct 24, 2014 Deconstructing the Doctrine of Discovery “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. You talk of the law of nature and the law of nations, and they are both against you.” —Corn Tassel (Cherokee, 1785) There’s been a lot of talk lately about the so-called Doctrine of Discovery, originally a theological fiction produced in the 1400s, later transformed into a political fiction by European heads of state, and then into a legal fiction by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall in 1823. Today it has been dangerously repurposed as popular fiction that serves to revise neo-colonial history, fuel oppressive legal decisions, and assuage majority culture guilt. Left unchallenged, the myths generated pose grave threats to our identities as peoples with inalienable sovereign rights to governance and territory. Without question the doctrine of discovery is one of the most important tenets of federal Indian law, working in tandem with several other doctrines–trust, plenary power, and reserved rights—to provide the ambiguous and uneven political framework for modern day Indigenous/State relationships. Notwithstanding its general acceptance, the concept has been so misused to distort perceptions of past and present oppression that it should be stricken from the federal government’s political and legal vocabulary. Discovery, as originally conceived in Pope Alexander VI’s 1493 papal bull, granted the Spanish exclusive interests in the Americas. -
Echoes of the Earth in Times of Climate Change: Native American Artists’ and Culture Bearers’ Knowledge and Perspectives
A Working Guide to the Landscape of Arts for Change A collection of writings depicting the wide range of ways the arts make community, civic, and social change. Echoes of the Earth in Times of Climate Change: Native American Artists’ and Culture Bearers’ Knowledge and Perspectives By Edward Wemytewa Native American artists and culture bearers brought Indigenous perspectives and critical voices to pressing issues of the environment at the April 2012 conference, Echoes of the Earth in Times of Climate Change, sponsored by the Seventh Generation Fund and Hopa Mountain. Artist, writer, and activist Edward Wemytewa (Zuni) eloquently captures the perspectives of Native leaders and culture bearers as they look to their cultural heritage and wisdom— sacred ceremony, ancient languages, prophesy, and hallmarks of mutuality, reciprocity, and responsibility—for ways to regain the delicate ecological balance of the earth. A Working Guide to the Landscape of Arts for Change is supported by the Surdna Foundation as part of the Arts & Social Change Mapping Initiative supported by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Open Society Foundations, CrossCurrents Foundation, Lambent Foundation, and Surdna Foundation. For more information, visit: www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy 2 INTRODUCTION The Echoes of the Earth conference held on April 6, 2012, at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman, Montana was sponsored by the Seventh Generation Fund and Hopa Mountain. The intent of the conference was to raise consciousness about climate change by integrating Indigenous artists and culture bearers into the panel conversations to provide their perspectives on the subject, and accordingly to encourage conference participants in the deliberations. While this report will highlight the Indigenous voices presented at the conference, I think it is important to frame it within a “tribal cosmos.” I will use my Zuni cultural heritage to contextualize the conversation because the gathering only lasted one day and the presenters were, therefore, not able to elaborate further. -
Broken Chains of Custody: Possessing, Dispossessing, and Repossessing Lost Wampum Belts
Broken Chains of Custody: Possessing, Dispossessing, and Repossessing Lost Wampum Belts MARGARET M. BRUCHAC Assistant Professor of Anthropology Coordinator, Native American and Indigenous Studies University of Pennsylvania Introduction In the spring of 2009, two historical shell bead wampum belts1—iden- tified as “early” and “rare” and valued at between $15,000 and $30,000 each—were advertised for sale at a Sotheby’s auction of Amer- ican Indian art objects2 belonging to the estate of Herbert G. Welling- ton.3 One belt, identified as having been collected by Frank G. Speck from the Mohawk community in Oka (Kanesatake, Quebec) before 1929, was tagged with an old accession number from the Heye Foun- dation/Museum of the American Indian (MAI; MAI #16/3827). The second belt, collected by John Jay White from an unknown locale before 1926, was identified as Abenaki; it, too, was tagged with an old MAI number (MAI #11/123; Figure 1). The Sotheby’s notice caught the attention of the Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burial Rules and Regulations (HSC), a consor- tium of Six Nations Iroquoian chiefs, tribal historians, and community leaders who serve as advocates and watchdogs for tribal territory and 1 The generic term wampum, borrowed from the Algonquian word wampumpeag for “white shells” (Trumbull 1903, 340–41), refers to cylindrical marine shell beads used by the Indigenous peoples of northeastern North America. Algonquian is the broad linguistic clas- sification for the Algonkian cultural group that includes the Indigenous nations in New England and in parts of Quebec, Ontario, and the Great Lakes. The beads were carved from the shells of univalve and bivalve mollusks harvested from the shores of Long Island Sound and other northeastern North American locales where riverine fresh waters mingled with marine salt waters. -
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION Honoring Oren Lyons Upon the Occasion of His Designation As Recipient of the 2014 F.O.C.U.S
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Oren Lyons upon the occasion of his designation as recipient of the 2014 F.O.C.U.S. Wisdom Keeper Award on April 2, 2014 WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize that the quality and character of life in the communities across New York State are reflective of the concerned and dedicated efforts of those individ- uals who devote themselves to the welfare of the community and its citi- zenry; and WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long- standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor Oren Lyons upon the occasion of his designation as recipient of the 2014 F.O.C.U.S. Wisdom Keeper Award on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center at Oncenter, Syracuse, New York; and WHEREAS, The Wisdom Keeper Award recognizes community leaders who have enriched the community with their wisdom, perseverance and passion, and who honor and respect the teachings of the people of the Onondaga Nation; and WHEREAS, A man of singular distinction, Oren Lyons has continually demonstrated extreme competence, extraordinary intelligence, and dili- gent leadership in his unwavering service to the Syracuse community and subsequently has been selected for this most prestigious award; and WHEREAS, Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs, Haudenosaunee, has been called upon to contribute his time and talents to countless endeavors on behalf of F.O.C.U.S. and has always given of himself unstintingly; and WHEREAS, -
Join Us in Big Sky This September!
NEWSLETTER • SPRING 2017 CAIRHE CENTER FOR AMERICAN INDIAN AND RURAL HEALTH EQUITY JOIN US IN BIG SKY THIS SEPTEMBER! n this space in CAIRHE’s last • Presenting success stories in community-based health newsletter, I wrote that the research across Montana and beyond; health challenges in Montana • Teaching best practices in community-based Iare too pervasive for any one participatory research; and entity to address them alone. That • Giving researchers an insider’s view of successful grant being said, I added that CAIRHE proposals to the National Institutes of Health and other wants to be among the leaders in sponsoring agencies. a statewide effort toward positive It’s an ambitious agenda for an inaugural conference, but we feel change—“coordinating and sure that the Summit will forge new connections that will have a partnering with communities, other lasting impact on the health of Montana’s citizens. We hope you will researchers, and organizations of all help us spread the word and join us for a great event. For the latest types.” information on the program and conference registration, click here Alex Adams To that end, we’re proud to or simply Google “Montana Health Research Summit.” announce a landmark event coming this fall. Thanks for reading, and see you in Big Sky! CAIRHE and our colleagues at Montana INBRE will sponsor the Montana Health Research Summit on September 14-16 Alexandra Adams, M.D., Ph.D. in Big Sky, Mont. The Summit will bring together leading health Director and Principal Investigator researchers, public health professionals, and representatives from the state’s diverse tribal and rural communities to foster collaboration, enhance Montana’s health research capacity, and improve outcomes in the areas of health equity, environmental health, nutrition and food sovereignty, mental health, and infectious diseases.