Screening and panel discussion on Doctrine of Discovery film Sunday and other news

In this blog:

• Free online screening and panel discussion of the “Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code,” Sunday
• Exxon writes off Canadian tar sands oil reserves, one more reason to Stop Line 3
• Call senators Klobuchar and Smith and ask them to Stop Line

How the U.S. stole the sacred Pipestone quarry from the Ihanktonwan

In researching the history of Indian Boarding Schools in Minnesota, I came across the story of how the U.S. government stole the sacred Pipestone quarry from the Ihanktonwan people. (The federal government calls them the Yankton Sioux Tribe.)

In Dakota, Ihanktonwan means “People of the End Village People,” according to the Ihanktonwan Community College. “The Ihanktonwan are also known as the ‘Land of the Friendly People of the Seven Council Fires,'” known in Dakota as the Oceti Sakowin.

Historically, the Ihanktonwan’s role included protecting the sacred Pipestone Quarry, Wikipedia says,

The U.S. government took away that sacred duty.

Enbridge Line 3 tree and shrub clearing well underway, law enforcement hypocrisy, and other news

In this blog:

• Enbridge Line 3 tree and vegetation clearing well underway
• Use of force: Capitol vs. Standing Rock (Indian Country Today)
• Biden could swing these 5 pipeline battles (E&E News)
• 96-year-old Navajo woman becomes an internet hit (Indian Country Today)

U.S. Treaty Signers Project launched, and other news

In this blog:

• New online resource “U.S. Treaty Signers Project” pushes back on the American myth
• Documentary “Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code” now available through online streaming
• Enbridge files shallow “Environmental Justice” update
• U.N. raises human rights concerns over last summer’s arrest at anti-Trump rally at Mt. Rushmore

Oklahoma’s new branding campaign hangs onto 19th Century mythology

Oklahoma launched a new branding campaign stunning in its 19th Century worldview and its failure to acknowledge the state’s Indigenous history and continued presence. It drew immediate rebukes. Here’s an eye-popping branding statement from the initial roll out:

This is a place that was built from scratch, made by people who gave up everything to come here from all over the world to create something for themselves and their families. We started this place with a land run in 1889 — and honestly, we’re still running, still making, still pioneering.

News and Events: We Are Still Here Conference March 11, Maine becomes first state to ban Native American mascots, and more

News and events in this blog:

• We own this now: A play about love of land, loss of land, and what it means to “own” something. Feb. 28
• We Are Still Here Conference, March 11, and the We Are Still Here Advocacy Day, March 12
• Maine becomes first state to ban Native American mascots
• Canada attempting to change citizenship oath to include respect for Indigenous treaties

Weekend Reads: Prairie Island Community prepares a move; New Doctrine of Discovery video, and more

In this blog:

• Worries over nuclear waste, flooding, have Prairie Island Indian Community preparing to move
• Presbyterian Stony Point Church in New York becomes Sweetwater Cultural Center to preserve indigenous culture and lifeways
• New Doctrine of Discovery video: Stolen Lands, Strong Hearts
• Enbridge security firm stokes fears of water protectors

Lakota leaders ask for support opposing DAPL expansion and upcoming symposiums

In this blog:

• Lakota leaders ask for public support opposing DAPL expansion
• Symposium on the Doctrine of Discovery with Mark Charles, Saturday, Nov. 16
• Symposium on Indigenous women on the frontlines of climate change, Friday, Nov. 22

19th Century Manifest Destiny Policy Continues to Inflict Harm on Indigenous People

Manifest Destiny continues to inflict harm on indigenous peoples. The latest example comes from a story in Indian Country Today, which reports on the 1872 General Mining Act and how it could allow a Canadian mining company to poison the waters in the traditional territory of the Tinglit people of Alaska.

This Day in History, Feb. 28, 1823: U.S. Supreme Court Adopts ‘Discovery Doctrine’

On this day in history, Feb. 28, 1823, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Johnson v. M’Intosh, effectively adopting a secular form of 15th Century Papal edicts as the basis for the relationship between the U.S. government and Native nations.

The Papal edicts provided the legal and religious justification for European explorers to claim indigenous lands on behalf of their monarchs by right of discovery. Collectively, these edicts (or bulls) are known as the Doctrine of Discovery. In Johnson v. M’Intosh, the Court wrote that the United States, as the successor nation to European monarchies, maintains those same land rights.

The United States civilized inhabitants “hold, and assert in themselves, the title by which it was acquired. They maintain, as all others have maintained, that discovery gave an exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title of occupancy, either by purchase or by conquest …”