Exploring Theme: "What is the Doctrine of Discovery?"

On the eve of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Pam Palmater looks at the Doctrine of Discovery and opens up the discussion of what comes next.  APTN News: After decades of advocacy by Indigenous Peoples worldwide, the Pope has finally repudiated the so-called “doctrine of discovery” and the immoral acts committed by colonial...

APTN: The Vatican responded to Indigenous demands and formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery.” There are many questions surrounding the doctrine. APTN News asked experts to help explain whether it actually can be rescinded, renounced or revoked....

First Peoples Law Report by Bruce McIvor This week marks the 200th anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s 1823 decision Johnson v. M’Intosh. In the decision, Chief Justice Marshall relied on the racist doctrine of discovery as the basis for European nations’ asserted sovereignty over Indigenous Peoples’ lands upon ‘discovering’ them. The doctrine was imported into Canadian law through...

APTN: The principle is entrenched in Canadian and U.S. law and may be a challenge to dismantle. Chelsea Brunelle, left, her mother Kim and Sarain Fox hold up a banner calling on the Pope to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery outside the cathedral in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Que. Photo: Emelia Fournier/APTN.  Pope Francis and his entourage of Vatican...