The Doctrine of Discovery and Me
During this episode, Sarah and Sheri explore how Sarah “discovered” the Doctrine of Discovery and its traumatic impact on her life and on the lives of other Indigenous people. They talk about how this trauma didn’t just happen but was intentionally planned by the U.S. government through different eras of federal Indian policy that systematically dispossessed Native people of their land.
Sources for this episode:
- Robert J. Miller book and article on the federal Indian policy eras.
- Steve Newcomb’s article on the Dawes Act in Indian Country Today.
- A historical exhibit from the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition that covers federal Indian policy eras and how they intersect with Mennonite history
- Chapter 4 in Sarah’s book, This Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery.