Temp test
What Americans call “The Vietnam War” the Vietnamese call “The American War.” What history books commonly call “The Age of Discovery” could be called from another perspective “The Age of Invasion”—when hordes of Europeans decimated native peoples in the Western hemisphere by disease, slavery, massacre, and conquering of land and people.
We Americans, especially those of us with European ancestry, must reckon with our history of racism directed toward indigenous people, blacks, Asians and anyone else not included in an assumed white superiority.
I have collected files (as of 6/13/21: 43 files, 17.3 MB) to facilitate research about the rights of indigenous peoples, historical crimes against indigenous peoples, and various purported rationale and legal justifications, including the concept of "Document of Discovery." You can access these files on my Google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ox-Hutm8iFUZfMCg7E_fmacS58dKN4gB?usp=sharing
I invite your comment on any of these files, and in particular the following three files from a Catholic perspective that attempt to distinguish and distance a legal concept called “Doctrine of Discovery” from certain ecclesiastical documents from the 15th and 16th centuries.
You can email comments to me at [[1]] –use the subject line “indigenous” to catch my attention. I will add your comments to a new file, “Comments.” If interest warrants it, I will make this file accessible and editable, so you can add comments directly to it.
Cordially,
Leo Jacoby
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ONE: catholic-response-to-doctrine-of-discovery-and-tn.pdf
The following text considers and repudiates illegitimate concepts and principles used by Europeans to justify the seizure of land previously held by Indigenous Peoples and often identified by the terms Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius. An appendix provides an historical overview of the development of these concepts vis-a-vis Catholic teaching and of their repudiation. The presuppositions behind these concepts also undergirded the deeply regrettable policy of the removal of Indigenous children from their families and cultures in order to place them in residential schools. The text includes commitments which are recommended as a better way of walking together with Indigenous Peoples.
Preamble
The Truth and Reconciliation process of recent years has helped us to recognize anew the historical abuses perpetrated against Indigenous peoples in our land. We have also listened to and been humbled by courageous testimonies detailing abuse, inhuman treatment, and
cultural denigration committed through the residential school system. In this brief note, which is an expression of our determination to collaborate with First Nations, Inuit and Métis in moving forward, and also in part a response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, we would like to reflect in particular on how land was often seized from its Indigenous inhabitants without their consent or any legal justification. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council and other Catholic organizations have been reflecting on the concepts of the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius for some time (a more detailed historical analysis is included in the attached Appendix).
Statement
We believe that now is an appropriate time to issue a public statement in response to the errors and falsehoods perpetuated, often by Christians, during and following the so-called Age of Discovery. In light of all this, as Catholics:
1. We firmly assert that Indigenous people, created in the image and likeness of God our Creator, ought to have had their fundamental human rights recognized and respected in the past, and that any failure to recognize and respect their humanity and fundamental human rights past or present is to be rejected and resisted in the strongest possible way;
2. We firmly assert that there is no basis in the Church’s Scriptures, tradition, or theology, for the European seizure of land already inhabited by Indigenous Peoples;
3. We reject the assertion that the principle of the first taker or discoverer, often described today by the terms Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius, could be applied to lands already inhabited by Indigenous Peoples;
4. We reject the assertion that the mere absence of European agricultural practices, technologies, or other aspects common to European culture, could justify the claiming of land as if it had no owner;
5. We reject the assertion that Europeans could determine whether land was used or occupied by Indigenous people without consulting those people
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TWO: Vatican comments on Doctrine of Discovery – CatholicNetwork.US.pdf
Statement by Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See Economic and Social Council, 9th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues On Agenda Item 7: Discussion on the reports “Impact on Indigenous Peoples of the International Legal construct known as the Doctrine of Discovery, which has served as the Foundation of the Violation of their Human Rights” and “Indigenous Peoples and boarding Schools: A Comparative Study” New York, 27 April 2010
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THREE: Holy-See-PFII-statement-Item-7_2021.pdf
Statement by H.E. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, at the 20th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 21 April 2021