The Domination Chronicles Podcast

In this episode, Peter d’Errico interviews Steve Newcomb about a May 2026 Catholic bishops’ symposium on the Doctrine of Discovery in Edmonton, Alberta. Steve reflects on the event, the call to revoke Inter Caetera, and the danger of language that hides domination behind softer terms such as “discovery,” “renunciation,” and “reconciliation.” Subscribe on YouTube Support this podcast at — https://r...

In this episode of Domination Chronicles , Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d’Errico explore why “domination” has become a slogan instead of a serious inquiry—and why language, law, history, and power must be carefully unpacked. Subscribe on YouTube Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dominationchronicles/exclusive-content

In this episode, Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d’Errico return to one of the most repeated phrases in federal Indian law and public advocacy: “tribal sovereignty.” But what does the phrase actually mean within the legal framework of the United States? Steve and Peter argue that “tribal sovereignty” is an oxymoron when it is defined by federal anti-Indian law as “limited sovereignty” or as sovereignt...

Today we deep dive into the legal and philosophical foundations of the "federal Indian law trust doctrine." We argue that the term "trust" is a euphemism for a relationship of domination rather than a protective legal obligation. Subscribe on YouTube Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dominationchronicles/exclusive-content

A deep conversation between hosts Steven Newcomb and Peter d'Errico and guest Loretta Afraid of Bear-Cook, about the preservation of Oglala Lakota traditions, the power of indigenous language, and the resistance against systems of domination and modern convenience. Subscribe on YouTube Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dominationchronicles/exclusive-content

Attorney Mark Savage joins us in this episode for a provocative discussion of the US claim of “plenary power” over Native nations and peoples. In the early 1990’s (!), Mark authored two seminal law review articles showing that the doctrine of “plenary power” has no basis in the US Constitution. In November 2025, in a dramatic move at the Supreme Court, two justices took the same stance! Subscribe...

Historian and lawyer Bruce McIvor joins us in this episode for a deep dive into how Canada’s colonizing legal system continues to attack First Nations with laws and policies dressed up in the latest costume of “reconciliation”. Bruce is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, descended from the Red River Métis. His law firm, First Peoples Law, represents Indigenous Peoples across the continent....

In this powerful episode, hosts Steve Newcomb and Peter d’Errico dissect a February 2, 2026,  The Economist  article titled "The Indian Removal Act, Unchecked Expansionism, and Disregard for the Rule of Law." They expose how the author misuses an 1832 Muskogee Creek Nation memorial – a protest against settler invasion – to draw parallels to modern US immigration policy. The discussion delv...

Episode 15, “STOLEN LAND”: The Danger and Limitation of Performative Speech, begins with the Grammys uproar after Billie Eilish said, “no one is illegal on stolen land,” and the fast backlash that followed. Peter P. d’Errico and Steven Newcomb argue that much of the public fight is performative speech: words that signal virtue or expertise while blocking real inquiry. They dig into the deeper stru...

Russell Diabo and our hosts examine Canada’s “reconciliation” agenda, exposing domination, fiscal dependency, and ongoing struggles for Indigenous self-government. Subscribe on YouTube Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dominationchronicles/exclusive-content

A concise exploration of key terms that reveal how words like civilization, sovereignty, and empire encode patterns of domination and power in law and history. Subscribe on YouTube Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dominationchronicles/exclusive-content

Newcomb and d’Errico examine the Federal Indian Boarding School Report, its apology, assimilation policies, dispossession, and ongoing domination today. Subscribe on YouTube Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dominationchronicles/exclusive-content

Domination Chronicles opens the new year with a wide-ranging conversation that sets the direction for months ahead. We explore free existence and domination through close attention to words, meanings, and entangled histories. Drawing on legal documents, technology debates, and long-standing narratives of sympathy and apology, the podcast invites careful reading and sustained reflection. Future epi...

In this episode of Domination Chronicles , our hosts Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d'Errico commemorate seventy years of Tee-Hit-Ton v. United States. Our hosts reflect on seventy years of Tee-hit-ton to expose how U.S. law has been used to legitimize domination—both domestically and globally. They trace how the 1955 decision reaffirmed the 1823 ruling in Johnson v. McIntosh , which asserted a U...

Our springboard is the 2020 Supreme Court decision, McGirt v. Oklahoma , that upheld US criminal law jurisdiction over “major crimes” in “Indian country” (via the 1885 Major Crimes Act, an act based on the claim of a right of domination by the US over the Original Nations). We focus on the way the US claim of “a right of domination” under federal anti-Indian law is both visible and invisible in th...

The Domination Chronicles explores how everyday language hides systems of power. In this episode, Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d’Errico unpack the words we use—state, sovereignty, civilization, landlord—and show how they mask a “claim of a right of domination” embedded in U.S. law and Western thought. Drawing on decades of research, they trace how naming, translation, and legal rhetoric normalize d...

In this episode, Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d’Errico explore how quantum physics offers a fresh way to understand the idea of free existence. Drawing on the insights of physicist Federico Faggin and philosopher Hans Busstra, they examine how concepts like indeterminacy and entanglement challenge the rigid, mechanical worldview that shaped the domination system brought from Christendom to Turtle I...

A dramatic Dissent by Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Thomas Opens a Path to Tectonic Changes in US Law .  Episode 6 marks a turning point in the long debate over federal domination of Native Nations. Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d'Errico walk through a recent Supreme Court dissent from Justices Thomas and Gorsuch that challenges the very foundation of  plenary power ---the claim that Congre...

The confluence of a 1975 article by Vine Deloria, Jr., and a 2025 law review article sparks a conversation about what's roiling our minds at the moment. In 1975, Vine Deloria, Jr., wrote an article in Akwesasne Notes pondering “the future of Indians”. In 2025, fifty years later, a law review article proposed that “tribes” should have powers of “eminent domain” to “take” land for “public use”....

In this episode, Steve Newcomb and Peter d'Errico dissect a recent concurring opinion from the Washington State Supreme Court that denounces the racist language in foundational federal Indian law cases while leaving the core doctrines of domination untouched. Using the  FLYING T RANCH v. STILLAGUAMISH TRIBE  decision as their entry point, they expose a crucial distinction: cleaning up offensiv...

In this episode, Steve Newcomb and Peter d'Errico unpack the hidden language of symbols—statues, seals, emblems, and monuments—revealing how these artifacts don't just reflect history but actively construct and maintain systems of domination. They examine how symbols emerge from shared mental and behavioral frameworks, become gateways into understanding entire worldviews, and serve as evid...

Steve Newcomb and Peter d’Errico dig into  Halverson v. Burgum , the August 21, 2025, Ninth Circuit dismissal of Jack Halverson’s (Crow Nation) case against the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The court ruled that Halverson could not sue the BIA because the US has “sovereign immunity”. It cited the 1823 Johnson v. McIntosh “Christian discovery” decision as the first item in its reasoning!. Learn more at...

In this inaugural episode of *Domination Chronicles*, Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) and Peter d'Errico deepen a decades-long dialogue on how systems of domination have shaped U.S. federal Indian law, beginning with the 1823 Johnson v. *McIntosh* decision and its roots in 15th-century the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. Visit dominationchronicles.com for show notes and transcripts... Subscri...

The Domination Chronicles is a new podcast that studies how systems of domination took shape and how they still shape our world. Hosted by Steven T. Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) and Peter d’Errico , the series draws on decades of research in federal Indian law, history, and Indigenous resistance. Each episode looks at the roots of the “right of domination,” from papal bulls and imperial law to modern...