Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery

We talk with Tom Porter about how colonization and the Revolutionary War reshaped Mohawk and Haudenosaunee leadership, identity, and survival, including the complicated legacy of Joseph Brant. We also work through what decolonization looks like on the ground: restoring trust, practicing restraint, and making room for condolence and real apologies. discovering family lineage connected to Joseph Bra...

We talk about how Haudenosaunee ceremonies survived generations of fear, shame, and punishment, and why we decide it is time to share teachings openly without asking anyone to become Mohawk. We connect creation stories, matrilineal leadership, and the Thanksgiving Address to a clear environmental message: renew a living relationship with Mother Earth before we lose what keeps our children alive. ...

Clicking “I agree” can feel harmless until you hear what it echoes. We follow a striking thread from the Doctrine of Discovery and Terra Nullius to the digital present, where human attention and behavior are often treated as if they belong to no one, ready to be “discovered” and taken. Our guest, a mixed-heritage settler Mennonite and Taino scholar who teaches AI ethics and policy at Queen’s Unive...

Ever wonder how a 15th‑century church decree still shapes who owns land in the United States today? We follow the Doctrine of Discovery from papal bulls and royal charters to Supreme Court opinions, then ground that history in living Haudenosaunee sovereignty at the Scano Great Law of Peace Center—a collaborative space built on values, relationship, and the Two Row Wampum way of working side by si...

The story begins with a mentor called simply “the teacher.” From a first lecture on sky gods to late-night phone calls and a leather coat the color of memory, we trace how Charles H. Long shaped minds through myth, method, and a rare musicality of thought. We share how he taught us to start with a text, a myth, a story—and then keep going until we hit the pre-logos ground where creation actually h...

Power rarely announces itself as a plan. Here, it does. We dive into the Seven Mountains mandate with Matthew Boedy, tracing how Turning Point USA evolved from a campus brand into a nationwide movement designed to seize cultural institutions—education, government, religion, family, business, media, and entertainment. Instead of winning hearts one by one, the strategy aims to install a committed mi...

A celebrated waterway can also be a wound. We open the Erie Canal’s familiar legend and find the story most of us never learned: how a triumph of engineering cut a dam through Haudenosaunee homelands, accelerated dispossession, and rewrote law, faith, and landscape in its wake. With Haudenosaunee leaders and scholars, we move from a condensed Thanksgiving Address into original instructions about w...

We trace the Erie Canal’s celebrated corridor through one farm in Oneida, New York, revealing how innovation rode alongside broken treaties, pressured sales and the erasure of Oneida lives. Through the intertwined stories of Polly Denny and Angel De Ferrier and the Brewer family, we face the costs of progress and the weight of paperwork. • why the Mohawk Valley corridor made the land strategically...

We trace how the Sullivan–Clinton campaign was conceived and executed as a land seizure against the Haudenosaunee, not a simple response to raids. We follow letters, orders, and deals that moved from neutrality to burning villages, then to surveys, the military tract, and the canal. • rewriting the Sullivan–Clinton narrative as a campaign for land • Dunmore’s War as a template for destroying food...

A campfire changes the kind of conversation you can have. With scholar and wilderness guide Kimberly Carfore, we lean into that flame to ask why so much of Western faith and culture treats the earth—and women—as subordinate, and how we can reorient toward relationship in a century of fires, floods, and frayed trust. Kim’s journey from Catholic roots to ecofeminist theology and back into the woods...

Jeannine Hill Fletcher, a theologian trained to interpret religious diversity, arrives at a white, Jesuit university and realizes something unsettling: you can’t do justice work without confronting the white supremacy woven through Christian history, law, and institutional life. That realization sends us down a path that threads together the Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. M’Intosh, and the ever...

Standing on the shores of Onondaga Lake—the birthplace of democracy in North America—Haudenosaunee knowledge keepers share timeless wisdom about our relationship with Mother Earth. This powerful conversation begins with Jake Edwards reciting the Thanksgiving Address, a profound expression of gratitude that acknowledges the interconnected responsibilities of all beings. "When you look at the r...

Holly Rine, associate professor of history at Le Moyne College, offers a compelling perspective on teaching the Doctrine of Discovery at a Jesuit institution. With remarkable candor, she shares her own journey from unfamiliarity with this history to becoming an advocate for institutional honesty about colonization's ongoing impacts. The conversation explores how critical examination of histor...

Yuria Celidwen, a Nahua and Maya scholar and UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher, shares how Indigenous wisdom offers pathways for collective healing beyond colonial mindfulness practices that prioritize individual benefit over community wellbeing. • Identifying as a "truth bearer" from Maya tradition, Celidwen bridges Indigenous epistemologies with academic research • The mindfulness mo...

This episode explores the vital need for a value change rooted in indigenous perspectives, particularly the teachings of the Haudenosaunee. Listeners are invited to reflect on how our current monetary-driven worldview is unsustainable and how adopting a more relational and respectful way of interacting with the Earth can pave the way for a more sustainable future. Themes • Discussion of the urgenc...

What if the key to protecting Native American sacred sites lies not within the confines of existing religious freedom laws, but in a reimagined legal strategy? Join us as we engage with Michael McNally, the insightful author of "Defend the Sacred: Native American Religious Freedom Beyond the First Amendment." Together, we unravel the complexities of how religious language, despite its co...

Uncover the often overlooked yet deeply influential Doctrine of Discovery with us, as we bring political science instructor and former Congressional candidate Steve Schwartzberg to the table. Join us to explore how this doctrine, woven into the fabric of U.S. history, continues to impact Indigenous peoples today. Steve shares his insights, drawing from influential thinkers like Steve Newcomb and P...

What if the very religion that oppressed your ancestors could also be your path to liberation? Join us as we engage with Soulforce's representatives—Reverend Alba Onofrio, Nadia Arellano, and Karina Vargas—in a powerful conversation about dismantling white Christian supremacy and Christian nationalism. We share insights from a recent gathering at Syracuse University, highlighting the crucial...

Discover the transformative power of Native American thought and religious studies in our conversation with the esteemed Philip Deloria. Learn about the profound legacy of Vine Deloria Jr., whose influential works like God is Red have shaped the academic and theological landscapes. As we uncover the Deloria family's rich heritage of Indigenous advocacy, you'll gain a deeper understanding...

How have universities become the focal point of inclusive religious dialogue? Join us for a captivating episode as we converse with Winifred Sullivan, a professor at Indiana University, who brings a wealth of experience from her dual careers in law and academia. Learn about her pivotal role at the Center for Religion and the Human, where diverse voices collaborate on addressing contemporary issues...

Embark on a profound historical exploration with João Chaves, Assistant Professor at Baylor University, as we uncover the lasting effects of the Doctrine of Discovery and its legacy of colonialism, faith, and power struggles in the Americas. Our conversation traverses from the Portuguese conquest and the influx of Confederate exiles post-American Civil War to the development of Brazilian Protestan...

Embark on a profound exploration with us as S. Lily Mendoza and Jim Perkinson take us through the winding paths of decolonization and the urgent quest to reconnect with the land. They illuminate the suppressed histories and indigenous cultures that beckon us to re-evaluate the civilizational narratives we've long been fed. Witness how the act of returning land plays a crucial role in healing...

This week on the podcast, we have Professor Tink Tinker, a luminary in Native American Studies. In this episode, he tells of the heart-wrenching legacy of Christian colonization on Indigenous communities. Our conversation probes deep into the cultural chasm between the collective ethos of American Indian traditions and the individualistic dogma of Christian salvation. As we unravel the tapestry of...

Discover the lingering shadows of the Doctrine of Discovery as we journey through the historical and modern challenges Indigenous nations face, particularly in safeguarding sacred sites like Bears Ears. Joined by Patrick Gonzalez-Rogers of the Yale School of Environment, Philip P. Arnold Arnold from the Skä•noñh Great Law Peace Center, and Sandy Bigtree of the Mohawk Nation, we unearth the cultura...

Embark on a profound journey through the tapestry of American religious history with Joel Harrison, associate professor of religion, and his sharp students, Jason Armstrong and Christian Oppenhagen. Together, we unravel the complex narratives of civil religion and secularism, with a particular lens on the interplay of race and religion since the colonial era. Our conversation pivots around Joel&ap...