I am grateful for your work. I am interested in no longer being complicit in Native American genocide. I’m trying to educate myself with your work and others like Steven Schwarzberg and Waziyatawin’s book “What does justice look like?” I have learned, for example, 5 miles from my house in Minnesota there is a concentration camp in a state park with mass graves of Dakota women and children. To date, it is virtually unrecognized by the state. there are recreation activities right on top of the concentration camp. I mean, can one imagine people recreationing on top of a concentration camp in Germany? The citizenry would be outraged! The US needs its own kind of Warsaw Genuflection moment to own this history.
Would you consider hosting an educational live video series via Substack to track current momentum that may be leading to a challenge of the doctrine of christian discovery in US courts? Perhaps a format that educates from the Marshall trilogy forward to today. I think the world is now ready for this.
Thank you, Peter, for this incisive piece. Your analysis exposes the foundational fiction of Christian discovery, a legal myth that still structures dispossession as sovereignty.
From Australia, the parallels are stark. Terra nullius served the same function as Johnson v. McIntosh, denying Aboriginal sovereignty by declaring the land legally empty. Even after Mabo, the assumption of Crown “radical title” remains intact, much like the U.S. refusal to confront the theft behind its own claims.
What resonates most is your point that legal strategies, whether through native title or religious freedom, often reinforce the very structures they seek to challenge by accepting settler ownership as the starting point. Here too, constitutional recognition or the Voice to Parliament often sidesteps the deeper issue: land justice, and the lie of sovereign authority.
I query whether we can imagine a legal vocabulary that doesn’t merely seek recognition from the state, but asserts jurisdiction beyond it, grounded not in colonial permission, but in the authority of Indigenous law itself.
yes! "a legal vocabulary that doesn’t merely seek recognition from the state, but asserts jurisdiction beyond it, grounded not in colonial permission, but in the authority of Indigenous law itself."
@stevenewcomb calls this the ground of Original Free Existence
Thank you so much Peter for unveiling this for us.
Indeed the doctrine of discovery "ownership" is about land theft and so much more. The Carl Schmitt, 1950 quote is visceral for me because the thinking is also applied in many ways in the structural system of domination.
The “land” is not limited to whatever continent this thinking arrived on. It includes earth, water, air, trees, minerals, animals, children, human beings, women’s wombs, language, cultural life ways that they can only see through the lens of “religion”, etc. The "land" includes all life. Mother Earth herself.
For example: Quanah Parker’s negotiations with US govt for the protection of the Sacred Sites and Life Ways of Peyote meant the usurpation by the christian theological worldview imposed criteria of agreement to call it a “religion” and he would create a “church” and incorporate bible words. Another note - one time I was invited to a Sun Dance that they said the 12 arbor poles represented the 12 apostles.
The rest of the quote as are the mental gymnastics of case law - is the usurpation through claim of "primary source" to replace natural lore and original existence with man made-up "right" to dominate and own original existence and the justification of this man made-up "right" is maintained through "legalized" acts of warfare, conquest, treaties, municipalities, policing, etc etc etc and mostly because people believe this stuff, all dressed up with words like "freedom".
There is nothing in this kind of thinking that makes good relations with Earth, all life and one another. It is the language of warfare.
With your works, both from a legal and judicial perspective as well as a philosophical and thought perspective, you have opened up a world to me that I had not known before and made me reconsider the existence of modern states and how they are abusive and oppressive. The situation of the American Indians is, to this day, nothing short of scandalous and intolerable, which demonstrates that the USA has never been a civil democracy but just a fiction, a murderous scam. I am fighting for similar issues in Italy to bring liberation and rights to my People, namely that land today called Southern Italy (former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), like the Native Americans, we were attacked in 1860 without a declaration of war and occupied and annexed to what we now call the Republic of Italy, from which we want to free ourselves. From the aggression of 1860 to today, we have suffered over a million deads and only plunder and bleak, cynical violence, and we are considered an internal colony and children of a lesser god.
Hello Peter, I am honored to meet you, we share the same origins: Apulia (formerly the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). I was born in 1956 in Leverano, a small town near Lecce, in the southern part of the Apulia region called Salento. Rodi Garganico is located in the north of the same region and is a beautiful town overlooking a beaitifull Sea and the beautifull Tremiti Islands. I also admire Giordano Bruno, he was a great thinker and philosopher and for us Southerners, an important figure and one of us, and your grandfather obviously understood greatness. Intelligence and sensitivity passed from your grandfather to you, given your decades-long commitment to the cause of Indigenous Peoples, and that honors you and honors us all. In my small way, I am trying to do the same thing you are engaged in, trying to bring justice to our People and our Ancestors. What I do in Italy derives from tragic historical events that saw our common ancestors attacked and victims of a true age-old cruel and systematic genocide and robbed of everything to create the current Italian State. Many were forced to flee emigrating to escape the fierce persecutions, and probably among them are your ancestors and grandparents. To this day, these facts are hidden and falsified by the Italian State, even in history books in schools and around the world. Even today our people are oppressed and exploited, and I am fighting peacefully and legally to obtain independence, justice, reparations, and the return of the treasures and assets plundered for 165 years, since 1860 until today.
I am not afraid to say that although we are in different situations, your work and experience are of great help to me. Fate wanted us to share the same origins and the commitment and sensitivity to certain important issues and true Justice. Frankly, I do not believe this is a coincidence but rather that we find common roots in a multi-millennial culture of which we are offspring.
In any case, to you as well as to all the other people engaged with you in this high commitment, to all of you: thank you and I am honored to know you.
Even when I did not know you, The Indians have always had my full support and solidarity.
I wish to continue learning and so I follow you attentively, my e-mail is: vittoriomiri@virgilio.it
P.S.: if you read Italian and if you wish to know what I'm doing and why and about the history of your family and your land of origin, I recently published a little book titled: La Nuova Nazione Meridionale - Un Sogno da Condividere by Vittorio Miri, and you can find it on Amazon Kindle (printable) or if you give me your e-mail I can send you one.
Peter-
I am grateful for your work. I am interested in no longer being complicit in Native American genocide. I’m trying to educate myself with your work and others like Steven Schwarzberg and Waziyatawin’s book “What does justice look like?” I have learned, for example, 5 miles from my house in Minnesota there is a concentration camp in a state park with mass graves of Dakota women and children. To date, it is virtually unrecognized by the state. there are recreation activities right on top of the concentration camp. I mean, can one imagine people recreationing on top of a concentration camp in Germany? The citizenry would be outraged! The US needs its own kind of Warsaw Genuflection moment to own this history.
Would you consider hosting an educational live video series via Substack to track current momentum that may be leading to a challenge of the doctrine of christian discovery in US courts? Perhaps a format that educates from the Marshall trilogy forward to today. I think the world is now ready for this.
Yes. The Yakama Nation already did in a powerful amicus brief in the Cougar Den case. I think that's a major reason the court decided in favor of the Yakama. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/16/16-1498/64580/20180924115810387_36893%20pdf%20Yakama%20Nation%20br.pdf
There are examples of less bold challenges... I discuss them in my book. But these are definitely outliers....
Thank you
Christopher - You will also find a lot of material in webinars on Redthought.org — https://www.redthought.org/
Discussions and analysis by me and Steve Newcomb and JoDe Goudy... videos are also on vimeo — https://vimeo.com/user122636890
Much appreciated Peter-
Thank you, Peter, for this incisive piece. Your analysis exposes the foundational fiction of Christian discovery, a legal myth that still structures dispossession as sovereignty.
From Australia, the parallels are stark. Terra nullius served the same function as Johnson v. McIntosh, denying Aboriginal sovereignty by declaring the land legally empty. Even after Mabo, the assumption of Crown “radical title” remains intact, much like the U.S. refusal to confront the theft behind its own claims.
What resonates most is your point that legal strategies, whether through native title or religious freedom, often reinforce the very structures they seek to challenge by accepting settler ownership as the starting point. Here too, constitutional recognition or the Voice to Parliament often sidesteps the deeper issue: land justice, and the lie of sovereign authority.
I query whether we can imagine a legal vocabulary that doesn’t merely seek recognition from the state, but asserts jurisdiction beyond it, grounded not in colonial permission, but in the authority of Indigenous law itself.
yes! "a legal vocabulary that doesn’t merely seek recognition from the state, but asserts jurisdiction beyond it, grounded not in colonial permission, but in the authority of Indigenous law itself."
@stevenewcomb calls this the ground of Original Free Existence
Thank you so much Peter for unveiling this for us.
Indeed the doctrine of discovery "ownership" is about land theft and so much more. The Carl Schmitt, 1950 quote is visceral for me because the thinking is also applied in many ways in the structural system of domination.
The “land” is not limited to whatever continent this thinking arrived on. It includes earth, water, air, trees, minerals, animals, children, human beings, women’s wombs, language, cultural life ways that they can only see through the lens of “religion”, etc. The "land" includes all life. Mother Earth herself.
For example: Quanah Parker’s negotiations with US govt for the protection of the Sacred Sites and Life Ways of Peyote meant the usurpation by the christian theological worldview imposed criteria of agreement to call it a “religion” and he would create a “church” and incorporate bible words. Another note - one time I was invited to a Sun Dance that they said the 12 arbor poles represented the 12 apostles.
The rest of the quote as are the mental gymnastics of case law - is the usurpation through claim of "primary source" to replace natural lore and original existence with man made-up "right" to dominate and own original existence and the justification of this man made-up "right" is maintained through "legalized" acts of warfare, conquest, treaties, municipalities, policing, etc etc etc and mostly because people believe this stuff, all dressed up with words like "freedom".
There is nothing in this kind of thinking that makes good relations with Earth, all life and one another. It is the language of warfare.
With your works, both from a legal and judicial perspective as well as a philosophical and thought perspective, you have opened up a world to me that I had not known before and made me reconsider the existence of modern states and how they are abusive and oppressive. The situation of the American Indians is, to this day, nothing short of scandalous and intolerable, which demonstrates that the USA has never been a civil democracy but just a fiction, a murderous scam. I am fighting for similar issues in Italy to bring liberation and rights to my People, namely that land today called Southern Italy (former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), like the Native Americans, we were attacked in 1860 without a declaration of war and occupied and annexed to what we now call the Republic of Italy, from which we want to free ourselves. From the aggression of 1860 to today, we have suffered over a million deads and only plunder and bleak, cynical violence, and we are considered an internal colony and children of a lesser god.
My father was born in Italy.... The family lived in Rodi Garganico! ...Giordano Bruno was a hero for my grandfather...
Hello Peter, I am honored to meet you, we share the same origins: Apulia (formerly the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). I was born in 1956 in Leverano, a small town near Lecce, in the southern part of the Apulia region called Salento. Rodi Garganico is located in the north of the same region and is a beautiful town overlooking a beaitifull Sea and the beautifull Tremiti Islands. I also admire Giordano Bruno, he was a great thinker and philosopher and for us Southerners, an important figure and one of us, and your grandfather obviously understood greatness. Intelligence and sensitivity passed from your grandfather to you, given your decades-long commitment to the cause of Indigenous Peoples, and that honors you and honors us all. In my small way, I am trying to do the same thing you are engaged in, trying to bring justice to our People and our Ancestors. What I do in Italy derives from tragic historical events that saw our common ancestors attacked and victims of a true age-old cruel and systematic genocide and robbed of everything to create the current Italian State. Many were forced to flee emigrating to escape the fierce persecutions, and probably among them are your ancestors and grandparents. To this day, these facts are hidden and falsified by the Italian State, even in history books in schools and around the world. Even today our people are oppressed and exploited, and I am fighting peacefully and legally to obtain independence, justice, reparations, and the return of the treasures and assets plundered for 165 years, since 1860 until today.
I am not afraid to say that although we are in different situations, your work and experience are of great help to me. Fate wanted us to share the same origins and the commitment and sensitivity to certain important issues and true Justice. Frankly, I do not believe this is a coincidence but rather that we find common roots in a multi-millennial culture of which we are offspring.
In any case, to you as well as to all the other people engaged with you in this high commitment, to all of you: thank you and I am honored to know you.
Even when I did not know you, The Indians have always had my full support and solidarity.
I wish to continue learning and so I follow you attentively, my e-mail is: vittoriomiri@virgilio.it
P.S.: if you read Italian and if you wish to know what I'm doing and why and about the history of your family and your land of origin, I recently published a little book titled: La Nuova Nazione Meridionale - Un Sogno da Condividere by Vittorio Miri, and you can find it on Amazon Kindle (printable) or if you give me your e-mail I can send you one.
The 🌍is closing in on 🇺🇸 vs and 🇪🇺
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u8teXR8VE4
ᐅᓐᒋᓇᔾᐄᓐ ⭕️ - ONJINAYWIN - Whatever we put into our ⭕️ returns to us multiplied
Peter, thanks for unraveling some of the mind game tangles.