A feature-length,
character-driven documentary film project is currently in the making. Directed by Gwendolyn Cates and co-produced
with Robert J Millar (Eastern Shawnee), it endeavours to generate public
awareness and catalyse change of what is now known as the Doctrine of
Discovery.
Originally known as Manifest
Destiny, the Doctrine was codified in the 15th century by Papal Bulls (decrees or
orders) that gave European explorers the right to claim and exploit
“discovered” lands on behalf of their Christian monarchs, and a mandate to
convert, enslave or kill non-Christian inhabitants. The most relevant of those Bulls was issued in
1452 under the title, Dum
Diversas (until different). It read
in full:
“We grant you [Kings
of Spain and Portugal] by these present documents, with our Apostolic
Authority, full and free permission to invade, search out, capture, and
subjugate the Saracens and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of
Christ wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, counties,
principalities, and other property [...] and to reduce their persons into
perpetual servitude.” Dum Diversas 1452.
Although originally stemming from Roman Catholicism, the
Doctrine enshrined the belief that all European Christians had the right, and
moral imperative, to conquer, enslave, and dominate the rest of the world. The
United States Supreme Court expressly adopted the Doctrine
of Discovery in 1823, as did many other courts and governments around the
world.
“The principle of
discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands." US Chief Justice John Marshall, Johnson v McIntosh,
1823.
That is the world view which, since the 15th
century, was used by almost all white colonisers to justify engaging in
genocide, ethnic cleansing, and colonization of indigenous people of colour. In fact, the Doctrine is still used to this
day to expropriate
Indigenous lands and undermine
Indigenous rights around the world.
Although the Doctrine is increasingly discredited and denounced
internationally, there are reports in this country of public servants
asserting, when challenged to adhere to Te
Tiriti o Waitangi in negotiations, that only the Doctrine of Discovery can
apply and that the
matter cannot be discussed.
While not all white people and/or Christians adhere to it,
if we are honest, they have been privileged by the Doctrine – especially over
the indigenous nations that they colonised.
In a way there is something sad about those who cling to the
Doctrine still. But it’s also
unsurprising. Why would they let it go
when It underpins the fiction of superiority, quiets the fear of inferiority
and, to this day, has never publicly been repudiated by the Vatican or any
government?
The upcoming documentary will follow Indigenous activists
from around the globe who are fighting the ongoing impact of the Doctrine and
are striving to convince the Pope to formally rescind the archaic Bulls. It will also educate and empower indigenous
nations to protect their Indigenous homelands from Aotearoa to the Amazon and
the Arctic.
I look forward to its premiere
in the next year.
