Outcome Documents for
200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh (JvM): Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism
This website is the official archive of the outcome publications from the Henry J. Luce Foundation Grant Funded project “200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh (JvM): Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism". Professor Philip P. Arnold was the PI on this project which ran from 2022-2024. Project activities included a conference, podcasts, and various types of publications.
Summary #
“200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh (JvM): Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism,” is a collaborative initiative made possible through relationships developed over 30 years between academic and Indigenous communities. At its core, the project seeks to interrogate and critically examine connections between the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DOCD), the Catholic Papal Bulls that undergird the Doctrine, and the Doctrine’s pernicious influence on United States Indian Law today.
The 200th anniversary of JvM provides an excellent moment to challenge the theology and jurisprudence of DOCD and this critical Supreme Court decision. The project will deliver a range of digital products and written works combined with a host of public outreach activities to raise awareness about the harmful impacts of the DOCD and provide support for a global movement of Indigenous People’s that seek to repudiate it.
Betty Lyons: Understanding the Doctrine
The episode explores how a centuries old Christian doctrine encouraged conquest and colonization of non Christians and how its legacies still affect various lands and peoples
Mitch Randall
Tanner Randall
S04E01: Unearthing the Foundations: Examining Native American Legal Battles and the Doctrine of Discovery
In this confernece recording Paula Johnson Peter d'Errico Joseph J Heath and Steven T Newcomb discusson the legacy and impact of Johnson v M'Intosh
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
S03E06: Exploring the Cultural, Historical, and Culinary Significance of Chilis with Victor Valle
In this podcast episode Phil Arnold and Sandy Bigtree interview Victor Valle an author and professor about his book The Poetics of Fire Metaphors of Chile Eating in the Borderlands
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
S03E05: Land is Kin: Indigenous Rights and Sovereignty with Dana Lloyd
In this podcast episode hosts Phil Arnold and Sandy Bigtree interview Dr Dana Lloyd author of the new book Land is Kin Sovereignty Religious Freedom and Indigenous Sacred Sites
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
S03E04: Beekeeping, Mushrooms and Sculptures: A Glimpse into Traditional Lithuanian Life with Eglutė Trinkauskaitė
Join us for an intriguing dive into Lithuania's rich post Soviet culture and ancient Baltic religious traditions with guest Eglut Trinkauskait who is full time faculty in the department of Humanistic
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
S03E03: Indigenous Advocacy and Climate Change: A Conversation with Eve Reyes-Aguirre
In this episode of the Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery Podcast hosts Phil Arnold and Sandy Bigtree interview Eve Reyes Aguirre an Indigenous community organizer and advocate for human rights women's
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
S03E02: White Evangelical Racism and Its Influence on American Politics an Interview with Anthea Butler
In this episode of the Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery podcast hosts Phil Arnold and Sandy Bigtree interview Professor Anthea Butler the Geraldine R Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Ch
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
S03E01: The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Doctrine of Christian Discovery an interview with Robert P. Jones
In this episode of the Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery podcast hosts Phil Arnold and Sandy Bigtree interview Robert P Jones the President and Founder of Public Religion Research Institute PRRI
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
Johnson v. M’Intosh and the Missing Cover of the Jigsaw Puzzle
February 28, 2023 marked 200 years since Chief Justice John Marshall delivered a unanimous decision for the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Johnson & Graham’s Lessee v. M’Intosh. This decision enshrined into the system of ideas and arguments called “U.S. law,” the assertion that the Christian nations of Europe, and their political successors, had a right of discovery and domination (“ultimate dominion”) against the original nations and peoples of this continent. At one point, the Court used the phrase “natives who were heathens,” language which is traced to the Bible and to Vatican documents from the fifteenth century.
Steven T. Newcomb
Johnson v. M’Intosh, Wi Parata v. Bishop of Wellington, and the Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery in Aotearoa-New Zealand
Here in Aotearoa-New Zealand the doctrine of discovery is, for many, a very new concept. If people knew of it at all, they assumed it to be relevant to the history of the Americas, but not to Aotearoa-New Zealand. This is in part due to our preoccupation with the colonial fiction of a “kind settlement.” A concerted grassroots campaign organized during the 2019 national commemorations of James Cook’s invasion in 1769 resulted in heightened awareness of his imperial intent. Consequently, there has been a somewhat belated awakening for Aotearoa-New Zealand to the reality of how the doctrine of discovery arrived here and has come to shape our existence.
Tina Ngata
