Doctrine of Discovery

Doctrine of Discovery is a 15th-century legal and religious concept used to justify colonization.

In Anishinabek News

• March 2016: English leaders wrote this law to justify taking control of Anishinaabe territory. As of March 2016, this concept is still used on Anishinaabe land.
• November 2019: This principle is the basis on which the Crown claims title to all lands in Canada. It forms the legal bedrock for all Canadian law, including the Indian Act. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples refutes this doctrine, though it remains influential in Canadian courts.
• December 2019: This principle provided a justification for European claims to land between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. As of December 2019, it remains a foundational principle in Canadian law.
• May 2020: The author suggests that using the Canada-United States border to determine Indigenous rights goes to the heart of this concept.
• September 2021: The Green Party of Canada passed resolutions to repudiate this doctrine based on recommendations from the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
• November 2021: RoseAnne Archibald asked Pope Francis to formally revoke and renounce this 1493 document. The National Chief requested it be replaced with a new decree affirming the dignity and value of Indigenous Peoples.
• March 2022: These laws were used to deny the existence of Indigenous peoples as human beings and justify their displacement. The Assembly of First Nations is seeking to have the religious foundations of this doctrine repealed by Pope Francis.
• October 2023: The book Ceremonies of Possession in Europe's Conquest of the New World, 1492 – 1640 examines the development and breadth of this legal theory. The theory was used by colonizing powers to justify their claims to possession of lands in the Americas.
• November 2024: Governments have used this concept to justify the treatment of Indigenous people and claims of superiority. The doctrine is a key theme in the book When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance.
• March 2025: The Doctrine of Discovery originated from papal bulls and allowed European powers to claim lands not inhabited by Christians. In March 2023, the Vatican officially repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, stating it was manipulated for political purposes.