Two papal bulls issued in 1455 and 1493 gave the church the blessing of the claims of explorers in Africa and America.
The Doctrine of Discovery is largely based on these papal bulls, issued by Pope Nicholas V and Pope Alexander VI.
“If you look at our history … what has happened since they landed on our shores, then it’s basically genocide,” said Gerald Antoine, Dene’s elected national leader and AFN regional leader for the Northwest Territories.
“We have to correct the mistake.”
The president of the community Métis Cassidy Caron (center, in black) and other representatives arrive to speak to the media in St. Peter’s Square after their meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday, March 28, 2022. (Gregorio Borgia / AP )
The AFN delegation – the last group of Indigenous Canadians to meet privately with the Pope this week before a final public hearing on Friday – plans to call on the Vatican to repeal the doctrine.
The move will fulfill the role of the Roman Catholic Church in calling for action by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee 49, which urges all religious and religious groups to renounce concepts used to justify European sovereignty over territories and indigenous peoples.
The legal expert blames the doctrine for the failure of reconciliation
The Doctrine of Discovery declared the lands occupied by the indigenous peoples as terra nullius – Latin means “no man’s land”.
Kaluhyanu; michelle Schenandoah, a member of the Oneida Nation, said the basis for the doctrine was the belief that non-Christian indigenous peoples were soulless.
“Because we had no souls, that gave these explorers the right to do whatever they wanted with the indigenous peoples – murder, rape, enslavement,” he said.
Schenandoah said that the dogma has shaped the mentality and behavior of Western culture for centuries.
He also said that there is a direct link between the doctrine and the disappearances and deaths of Native women in Canada.
In many indigenous nations before contact, she said, women had the final say in how land was used – making it an obstacle to European exploration and settlement.
“When you look at how these countries have treated indigenous women, we are downstairs,” Schenandoah said. “Because the doctrine has placed us in this part of being invisible and necessary, so our countries treat us this way.
“What gives any person or nation the right to claim the sovereignty of any other person or nation anywhere in the world?”
The doctrine was introduced into law and influenced Indian law, land claims and the school housing system.
Gerald Antoine, Governor of the Northwest Territories, leads the Assembly of Nations delegation to the Vatican. (Olivia Stefanovic / CBC)
Bruce McIvor, a partner at First Peoples Law in Vancouver, said the pope could change things in Canada by denouncing the dogma.
“It would give impetus to Canada for the courts and governments to take seriously this fundamental lie underlying the claims of non-natives in Canada,” he said.
Pope called to “take the first step”
McIvor said the federal government could also pass a law repealing the doctrine. “If the pope took the first step, it would push the federal government to do the same,” he said. McIvor said he believes the prolonged influence of the doctrine is the reason why reconciliation continues to fail in Canada. “When we hear the word reconciliation, what most Canadians do not realize is that they are invoking the Doctrine of Discovery,” McIvor said. “Because when the courts and the government say reconciliation, they mean reconciliation with this fundamental lie that the colonists can just show up and claim the lands of the natives.”
