The “Age of Discovery” and the Destruction of Indigenous Culture

What is the “Age of Discovery”?

When Europeans first occupied the Americas, most did not even consider that the people they encountered had cultural and religious traditions that were different from their own; in fact, most believed Indigenous Nations had no culture or religion at all. As the “Age of Discovery” unfolded, Spanish and French Catholics were the first to infiltrate Native lands, beginning in the 16th century. Profit-minded Spanish conquistadores and French fur traders competed for land and wealth, while Spanish and French missionaries competed for the “saving of souls.”¹

How did Columbus “discover” America?

Many Americans grew up learning that this continental United States was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus, a misconception that perpetuated false knowledge and created the image of western superiority. The concept of discovery, as if the land was empty prior to arrival and its Indigenous inhabitants were somehow “less than” the explorers is, at its heart, racism and cultural superiority.²

What is the Doctrine of Discovery?

The Doctrine of Discovery is the manner in which Christian explorers, on behalf of their sovereigns, declared claim to territories uninhabited by Christians. Although millions of Indigenous Peoples habited the lands now known as the United States, they were seen as savages—not human—and certainly not Christian, thus the land was deemed “terra nullius” or “empty” which allowed for it to be claimed and “discovered.”³

The Doctrine of Discovery is based in a belief that Christianity is the only right religion. Under this belief, Christians have an obligation to convert all non Christians and to rule over them. This belief was sanctioned and continues to be sanctioned by the Catholic Church, the Pope, and part of Federal law. The Doctrine allows the continued colonization of the Indigenous peoples because their beliefs, religions and culture are seen as inferior. In 1823, the Supreme Court ruled that Indigenous Nations are sovereign governments but that Indigenous people did not deserve compensation for the land that was stolen from them because they were compensated by the gift of Christianity.⁴

Why does this matter today?

The Doctrine of Discovery remains in effect today. The Supreme Court reaffirmed it in 2005 in the case of City of Sherrill v Oneida Indian Nation of New York. The original ruling of the Doctrine of Discovery “in 1823 when the Supreme Court ruled on Johnson and Graham’s Lessee versus McIntosh. The Court found that the Doctrine of Discovery gave sovereignty of Indian lands to England and then to the United States. Indian nations, under this Doctrine, have a right of occupancy to the land. Christian nations, such as England and the United States, have superior rights over the inferior culture and inferior religion of the Indians.”⁵

In 2012, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Nations issued nine recommendations that were related to the impact of Doctrine of Discovery. The ongoing impact of the Discovery Doctrine on Indigenous peoples and the right redress. The fifteenth century Christian principle was denounced throughout the session as the “shameful” root of all the discrimination and marginalization Indigenous peoples face today.⁶

What is Manifest Destiny? 

Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. The philosophy drove 19th-century U.S. territorial expansion and was used to justify the forced removal of Native Americans and other groups from their homes.⁷

What is the Dawes Act? 

The Dawes Act was one of many official processes put into place to ‘kill the Indian, save the Man.’”⁸ In 1887 Congress passed the General Allotment Act also known as the ‘Dawes Act’. “Friends” of American Indians believed that this act and other assimilationist practices were an alternative to the extinction of the Indian people. The Cherokee and the Five other Civilized Tribes which included the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole resisted the act.⁹

The act stated that the head of each family would receive 160 acres of tribal land and each single person would receive 80 acres. Title to the land would be held in trust by the government for 25 years. After 25 years each individual would receive United States citizenship and fee simple title to their land.¹⁰

Tribal lands not allotted to Native Americans on the reservation were to be sold to the United States and the land would be opened for homesteading. Proceeds from the land sales were to be placed in trust and used by the government as an account for supplies provided to Indian people. The Cherokees western land extension was sold to the United States in 1891 and 1893 opened, mostly to non-Indian settlers, in a famous land run.¹¹

When the allotment process began in 1887, the total land held by American Indian tribes on reservations equaled 138,000,000 acres. By the end of the allotment period landholdings had been reduced to 48,000,000 acres. Since 1934 the landholdings have slowly increased to 56,000,000 acres.¹²