Permalink: https://doi.org/10.26443/jcreor.v5i2.108

Abstract

The Office of the External Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom or Belief contacted Philip P. Arnold, the Indigenous Values Initiative (IVI), and the American Indian Law Alliance (AILA), and asked us to join a call to give input on a new report on Indigenous Religious Freedom or Belief. Numerous Indigenous NGOs, Indigenous nations, and leaders were on the call.

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INTRODUCTION

The Office of the External Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom or Belief contacted Philip P. Arnold, the Indigenous Values Initiative (IVI), and the American Indian Law Alliance (AILA), and asked us to join a call to give input on a new report on Indigenous Religious Freedom or Belief. Numerous Indigenous NGOs, Indigenous nations, and leaders were on the call. The Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed and his staff were most receptive to the feedback given and received. In this special issue, you will find a copy of the report and a copy of the input provided by the IVI and AILA, as well as from our friends and colleagues Michael McNally, Lars Pharo, Dana Lloyd and Cecilia Titizano. This is a representative sample of the inputs collected for the report.

Author Biographies

Philip P. Arnold , Syracuse University

Philip P. Arnold is a Professor in the Department of Religion, and a core faculty member of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Syracuse University. He is the Founding Director of the Skä-noñh---Great Law of Peace Center, (2012-15) and repurposed the "French Fort" on Onondaga Lake which celebrated the colonial presence in 1656-58. The new Center tells the ancient story of the formation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tradition known as the Great Law of Peace and its influences on American culture. The Skä-noñh Center is a collaboration between the Onondaga Nation, Onondaga County, Syracuse University and other educational and cultural institutions in the Syracuse area. He is the President of the Indigenous Values Initiative, which is a non-profit organization to support the work of the Skä-noñh---Great Law of Peace Center, the American Indian Law Alliance, and sister organizations and initiatives to educate the general public about the values of the Haudenosaunee. In 2007 he organized the Doctrine of Discovery Study Group and listserve to study the legacy of Christianity's destruction of Indigenous Peoples. With his wife Sandra Bigtree he co-hosts the Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery podcast and is the PI for "200 Years of Johnson v. McIntosh: Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism," a 3-year (2022-24) grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. He is co-editor of the Syracuse University Press series Haudenosaunee and Indigenous Worlds and a founding member of NOON (Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation). His books are Eating Landscape: Aztec and European Occupation of Tlalocan (1999); Sacred Landscapes and Cultural Politics: Planting a Tree(edited with Ann Gold, 2001*);* The Gift of Sports: Indigenous Ceremonial Dimensions of the Games We Love (2012) and Urgency of Indigenous Values (Syracuse University Press, 2023) For more publications see his ORCID.

Sandra Bigtree, Indigenous Values Initiative

Sandy Bigtree, Bear Clan, is a citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne. She is a founding board member of the Indigenous Values Initiative, (501C3) which fosters collaborative educational work between the academic community and the Haudenosaunee to promote the message of peace that was brought to Onondaga Lake thousands of years ago. It is this message that continues to influence American Democracy, the Women’s Rights Movement, and the Environmental Justice Movement. She helped organize the: “Roots of Peacemaking” educational festivals in 2006 and 2007; the “Doctrine of Discovery Conference” in 2014; and co-edited the Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) educational booklet. She was an original Planning Committee member of Skä•noñh: the Great Law of Peace Center and currently sits on the Educational Collaborative Committee. In 1984-85, she was the Administrative Assistant to the American Indian Law Support Center at the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, CO.* In 1980-82 she performed with Native Americans in the Arts theatre troupe (an affiliate of the American Indian Community House) at LaMama, NYC, and toured the northeastern US. From age 1-30, Sandy performed weekly on radio, TV and other venues around Central New York. The Sandy Bigtree Band was well known throughout the 1970s. In 2008, Sandy was the recipient of the Syracuse New Times “Hall of Fame” Sammy Award. Show business is a “tradition” that began with her grandfather Mitchell Bigtree’s escape from Thomas Indian Boarding School to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Europe. His most memorable performance was at Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

Adam DJ Brett, Syracuse University

Adam DJ Brett earned his PhD in Religious Studies from Syracuse University. He is an Operations Manager and International Research Associate with the American Indian Law Alliance (AILA). Additionally, he is the grant and event coordinator for the Doctrine of Discovery Project at Syracuse University with Professor Philip P. Arnold, who is the Principal Investigator. The project is funded in part by the Henry Luce Grant “200 Years of Johnson v. McIntosh.”

References

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Arnold, Philip P., and Sandra L. Bigtree. “Ten Religious Themes of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DoCD) That Contrast with Indigenous Values.” Doctrine of Discovery Project (blog), September 26, 2022. https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/10-religous-dimensions/.

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader. City Of Sherrill V. Oneida Indian Nation Of N. Y. 544 U.S. 197, No. No. 03–855 (Supreme Court of The United States March 29, 2005).

Gonnella Frichner, Tonya. “The Preliminary Study on the Doctrine of Discovery.” UNPFII. New York: United Nations, April 27, 2010. Presented at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Ninth Session, United Nations Economic and Social Council, New York, 27 April 2010. https://undocs.org/E/C.19/2010/13.

Indigenous Values Initiative. “About the Doctrine of Discovery Project.” Doctrine of Discovery Project (blog), June 11, 2024. https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/about/.

———. “Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery Podcast.” Podcast. Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery Podcast (blog), August 14, 2022. https://podcast.doctrineofdiscovery.org/about/.

———. “Mother Earth‘s Pandemic: The Doctrine of Discovery.” Doctrine of Discovery Project (blog), June 29, 2020. https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/event/education/mother-earths-pandemic/.

———. “What Is the Doctrine of Discovery?” Doctrine of Discovery Project (blog), July 30, 2018. https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/what-is-the-doctrine-of-discovery/.

Indigenous Values Initiative, Good Faith Media, and American Indian Law Alliance. “Doctrine of Christian Discovery Podcast.” Doctrine of Christian Discovery Podcast. Accessed June 4, 2024. https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/s/docd/.

Lloyd, Dana. “City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York.” Doctrine of Discovery Project (blog), October 19, 2022. https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/sherrill-v-oneida-opinion-of-the-court/.

Lyons, Oren. “The Ice Is Melting in the North.” Manoa 19, no. 2 (2007): 1–3.

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Onondaga Nation. “The Land Rights Case.” Onondaga Nation: People of the Hills (blog), 2005. https://www.onondaganation.org/land-rights/.

———. “Two Row Wampum – Gaswéñdah.” Onondaga Nation People of the Hills, n.d. https://www.onondaganation.org/culture/wampum/two-row-wampum-belt-guswenta/.

Reyes-Aguirre, Eve. “Tupac Enrique Acosta.” My Keeper. Memorial Page for Tupac Enrique Acosta (blog), https://www.mykeeper.com/TupacEnriqueAcosta. 2023.

Ruehl, Robert Michael. “Manifest Destiny.” Doctrine of Discovery Project (blog), March 23, 2023. https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/blog/manifest-destiny/.

Shaheed, Ahmed. “Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief.” UN. Freedom of Religion or Belief. New York: United Nations, October 10, 2022. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a77514-interim-report-special-rapporteur-freedom-religion-or-belief.

The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code. Streaming, Documentary. 38 Plus 2 Productions, 2015. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/dominationcode.

Tonatierra. “Tupac Huehuecoyotl.” NGO. Tonatierra (blog), 2023. https://www.tonatierra.org/tupachuehuecoyotl.

Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign. “Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign,” 2013. https://honorthetworow.org/.