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.
Introduction
Introduction to a global volume on Christian Discovery, linking law, religion, and pedagogy, with Indigenous sovereignty and decolonial justice today.
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
Flesh of Words: Confrontation, Navigation, and Integrity in the English Classroom
Hurtado uses Critical Race Theory and Latina feminisms to show how multiethnic curricula can confront colonial legacies and teach resistance in class.
Roberta Hurtado
The Chosen People at Grouse Mountain
Felese challenges conquest-based land values and shows Indigenous relational worldviews offer life-affirming alternatives to extraction and alienation
Wendy Felese
Expecting Excellence in Education: When Content Conditions Class Consciousness
Chaness links white supremacy, settler colonialism, and anti-Indian racism, showing how Indigenous values and pedagogy reshape critical classroom practice.
Michael E. Chaness
The Medieval Origins of Religious White Supremacy: English Imperialism, Crusade Defeats, and the Doctrine of Discovery
Callan traces how medieval English myths, crusade defeat, and Irish colonization shaped Christian white supremacy and fed the global Doctrine of Discovery.
Maeve Callan
Unselling the Classroom: Confronting History and Ourselves
Berlin urges teachers to confront settler colonialism and white supremacy by centering Indigenous history critical pedagogy, and accountability today.
Elaina Berlin
Deconstructing the Erie Canal: Three Lessons for its Next Century
In this bicentennial reflection on the Erie Canal, Renee Barry examines how celebratory public histories mask the canal's foundation in settler colonial violence on unceded Haudenosaunee land. Drawing on archival research, heritage tourism analysis, and museum narratives, the essay deconstructs myths of progress, civilization, and national destiny embedded in iconic commemorations such as the Wedding of the Waters. Barry argues that these narratives normalize environmental damage, erase Indigenous sovereignty, and recast genocidal dispossession as American achievement. The article links canal ideology to Christian dominance, European expansion, and the legal legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, while also tracing how revivalist and reform movements reproduced similar hierarchies. Blending critical history with self-reflection, Barry calls for a different future in which Erie Canal memory is reoriented around Indigenous leadership, sacred relationships to place, and accountable ecological repair rather than triumphalist nostalgia. She urges institutions, educators, and visitors to confront inherited narratives and support decolonial stewardship in practice.
Renée Barry
Silencing the Doctrine of Discovery – The Brazilian Process: Accidental Discoveries, Secret Manuscripts, Imaginary Lines and Myths
Alencar traces how the Doctrine of Discovery shaped Brazil through church-backed silence, racial myths, and colonial violence, urging decolonial accountability.
Telma Alencar
S06E08: Remembering The Teacher: Charles H. Long (Part 1)
In this episode Davíd Carrasco and Raymond Carr honor the legacy of Charles H. Long, a towering figure in religious studies. Carrasco recalls Long’s innovative method of starting with texts, myths, or stories to explore culture and meaning, and he highlights Long’s insistence on creation myths as the foundation for human creativity and reality. The conversation delves into Long’s critique of America’s racist history and his concept of ‘colonizer watchers’—those oppressed by colonialism who might forge a new world. Carrasco reflects on Long’s influence in Mexico and his standing as an improvisational thinker whose work resists neat categorization. Raymond Carr offers insight into managing Long’s papers, noting how the scholar refused to be confined by disciplinary boundaries. Together the guests paint a vivid picture of Long’s role as a teacher and the enduring relevance of his ideas. Listeners reflect on how Long’s vision might inform today’s struggle and scholarship.
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
S06E07: Inside The Seven Mountains Mandate And The Rise Of Turning Point USA
Matthew Boedy, a professor at the University of North Georgia, discussed his book 'The Seven Mountains Mandate' on Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and its influence on Christian nationalism. TPUSA, founded by Charlie Kirk, has expanded from a college student group to a nationwide movement, with a budget of $100 million. The organization targets seven cultural institutions: education, government, religion, family, business, media, and entertainment, aiming to replace secular influences with Christian ones. Boedy highlighted TPUSA's impact on higher education, its use of rhetoric, and its significant financial backing. The conversation also touched on the historical context of Christian nationalism and its implications for democracy.
Philip P. Arnold
Sandra Bigtree
Adam DJ Brett
