The idea that Europeans could claim land not belonging to them, which is inherent in the Doctrine of Discovery, paved the way for the Indian Act and…
After delivering a historic apology while among representatives from Indigenous communities in Maskwacis, Alta., a voice could be heard in the crowd calling for him to repudiate the doctrine. Two days later, at a Mass at the National Shrine of Sainte Anne de Beaupré in Quebec, protestors unfurled a large banner that read “Rescind the Doctrine.
The Doctrine of Discovery has had immediate and lasting effects on Indigenous nations in Canada, as it justified Indigenous lands to be taken by European colonizers. These treaties involved Indigenous groups surrendering their land to the government in return for certain benefits, including reserve lands.
In deciding this case, Chief Justice John Marshall used the Papal Bulls and Doctrine of Discovery to determine that it is not possible to purchase land from Native Americans because they never owned it to begin with. When the land was colonized, it became American. The Supreme Court decided a similar case in 2014, when Tsilhqot’in Nation brought the Province of British Columbia to court to stop the clear cutting of trees on their land. This case looked into who had power over land never surrendered in a treaty.Article contentterra nullius