The author Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) reflects on his lifelong study of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Domination, tracing its origins, legal codifications, and enduring impact on Native nations. Motivated by reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee at age fifteen, Newcomb situates his inquiry within his family history, including Shawnee and Delaware ancestry and his grandparents' experiences in U.S. Indian boarding schools designed to eradicate Native languages and culture. Newcomb examines the 1493 papal bull Inter Caetera, which sanctioned European Christian domination over non-Christian peoples, and the 1823 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Johnson v. McIntosh, which codified the legal principle that "discovery" granted title and authority over Native lands. By exploring the etymology of key terms---dominion, conquest, civilization, ascendancy, and sovereignty---he demonstrates how language was weaponized to legitimize domination. Newcomb argues that federal Indian law and the U.S. property system are founded upon a claim of despotic dominion over Native nations and their lands, contrasting sharply with the original free and independent existence of Indigenous peoples. He emphasizes the importance of recovering Native languages, cultural traditions, and spiritual knowledge to challenge this imposed system. Drawing on decades of research, collaboration with Native scholars, and public advocacy, Newcomb calls for a reclamation of sovereignty grounded in reverence for life, and for a conscious movement away from the colonial mindset embedded in law, language, and governance.

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