The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code explains how popes from the 15th century weaponized Vatican documents ("papal bulls") to inflict Christian supremacy across the globe in the name of evangelization. This European Christian domination is actively felt today, especially in fueling the ecological crisis.

Alongside historical context, The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code touches on the embodied reverence and passion that many Native peoples and nations have for people and the planet. The sacredness of both the natural world and humankind remains the key ingredient to conservation and increasing the Earth's resources. 

The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code is based on Newcomb’s book, Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Discovery. Newcomb will open our time together with remarks on what Indigenous wisdom can teach us in how we approach the climate crisis today, and how we might dismantle the ongoing legacy of Christian supremacy.

About the presenter: Steven Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape) is co-founder and director of the Indigenous Law Institute, and author of Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (Fulcrum, 2008). He co-produced the documentary movie “The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code” (2015), which is based on Pagans and his four decades of research.