In the years ahead it is reasonable to expect that Lutherans will begin entering into fuller conversations on the Doctrine of Discovery.
Click Here for the Doctrine of Discovery Literature Review/Resource List Completed by Michiko Bown-Kai and Cecile Fausak just presented to the KAIROS Indigenous Rights Circle
or See Doctrine of Discovery Repudiation Documents at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/repudiation-doctrine-discovery
Here is how it is phrased by my colleague Harley Eagle, Co-Coordinator for Indigenous Work for Mennonite Central Committee, Co-Chair of our KAIROS Indigenous Rights Circle.
“In his bull of 1452, Pope Nicholas directed King Alfonso V of Portugal to put these enemies of Christ into perpetual slavery and to take all their possessions and property, leading Portugal to traffic in African slaves, with Portugal expanding its domain by claiming lands along the western coast of Africa as Portuguese territory. In 1493, upon the return of Christopher Columbus and his infamous discovery (a not only inaccurate, but far-from innocent, term) of the Americas, another papal bull was issued allowing for the control of the discovered lands and any future discoveries of Spain. A subsequent bull forbade the taking of lands already claimed by self-proclaimed “Christian lords” such as Portugal’s rulers, leading to a mapped line of demarcation showing which lands would fall under Portuguese rule and which under Spanish sovereignty. This pattern of presumptuous dominance grew and developed over time, outlasting European monarchies and eventually providing the legal foundation for state-owned land and property laws in colonial states such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The DoD [Doctrine of Discovery] has become enshrined within the norms of international law that governs the interactions of sovereign states with one another and is used by these states to assert their authority over and their right to exploit Indigenous lands to this day.”
Mr. Eagle co-presented on the Doctrine of Discovery to the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the recent gathering in Busan, Korea, October 2013, attended by Susan Johnson, our ELCIC National Bishop, and by Mark MacDonald, Canada’s National Indigenous Anglican Bishop.
Also see this link to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Agenda Item 4(a), 2012.
Prepared August 2014
Or see this Prezi on the Doctrine of Discovery https://prezi.com/-poz8na3_l-c/doctrine-of-discovery-task-force/
