The set of legal and theological principles known as the Doctrine of Discovery has long enabled European Christians to explore and colonize regions previously occupied by indigenous peoples, but the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), which has branches on five continents across the globe, have renounced it.
Christianity Today reported that a majority of the attendees (84%) approved a resolution this week at the Covenant Annual Connection recognizing the harm done to indigenous peoples in the Americas by taking their land and rights. They also expressed regret about the church's involvement in those injustices.
The resolution discusses the lack of comprehensive understanding or teaching of Indigenous history in U.S. and Canadian public schools and among the broader population. As a result, the historical background was acknowledged to be a very difficult thing for many people to confront, especially because of the Church's role in it.
The Doctrine of Discovery, also known as the doctrine of Christian discovery, is a set of theological and legal principles coming from decrees, known as papal bulls, from the Catholic Church's popes in the 15th century. These gave European monarchies a theological justification to claim lands where indigenous people lived.
"For more than five centuries, the Doctrine of Discovery and the laws based upon it have legalized the theft of land, labor, and resources from Indigenous peoples, from which the dominant culture continues to benefit. This doctrine originated with the Christian church in the 15th century. It is now the Church's responsibility to refute it," a statement from the resolution reads.
Forced integration of local cultures by removing children from their families and sending them to boarding or residential schools was highlighted as one of the major injustices. At the time, these residential schools were established with the goal of "kill(ing) the Indian to save the man."
To do this, indigenous children at boarding schools were reportedly punished harshly for speaking their native language or practicing cultural traditions.
Children, on the other hand, die much too often in these boarding schools as a result of starvation and illness, as well as psychological, spiritual, and sexual abuse. As for those who survived, they became used to feeling ashamed of their Native traditions as a consequence of their experiences.
Despite the fact that all of the perpetrators have since died, the resolution recognized that the Doctrine of Discovery's foundation in the United States and Canada has resulted in historical intergenerational trauma, along with an abundance of socioeconomic factors including a disproportionate youth suicide rate, severe cases of Type II diabetes, and extreme poverty on Native American reservations.
The resolution went on to say that many reservations and reserves are being designated as nuclear testing sites and waste storage areas these days. In addition, uranium mining and other mineral exploitation carried out on tribal territory leads to the generation of hazardous waste.
In response to these findings, the ECC wants to reject the Discovery Doctrine because it's contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They further denounce it as a marring of the image of God and a violation of the intrinsic human rights received from God by all peoples.
The ECC has reportedly spent the last five years working on this resolution, but an official action was pushed forward following a report from the Cowessess First Nation that it had discovered evidence of at least 751 unmarked graves near the site of the old Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.
Rev. TJ Smith, a Lakota and President of the Association of Indigenous Ministers, hopes that U.S. citizens humbly realize that it is not just Canada. He stated that dismissing the Discovery Doctrine is a first essential step towards healing and unity.
Christianity Today noted that a number of the leading Protestant denominations like the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Evangelical Church in America have been engaged in similar restitutional efforts in the past few years.
