As a young Shawnee, Lenape person trying to gain a better understanding of history, I first learned about the doctrine of discovery when I was living in Southern California. I decided to read Vine Deloria’s book God is Red when it was published in 1972. I was nineteen or twenty years years old when I
AuthorSteven Newcomb
Steven Newcomb is a Shawnee-Lenape scholar and author. He has been studying and writing about U.S. federal Indian law and policy since the early 1980s, particularly the application of international law to Indigenous nations and peoples. Mr. Newcomb is the Director of the Indigenous Law Institute, which he co-founded with Birgil Kills Straight, a Traditional Headman and Elder of the Oglala Lakota Nation.
When Our Native Nations Were Living Free and Independent of the Ideas of Christendom
Prior to Columbus’s invasive arrival to our part of Mother Earth, our nations of Great Turtle Island (“North America”) were living in a physical location that was entirely free and independent of the Western Christendom’s system of domination. At that time, our nations were still free and independent of all the ideas and mental activities
The Biblical Basis of federal Indian law & policy
I have often wondered why federal Indian law attorneys dare not mention the crusading tradition of the United States against “heathens” and “infidels,” namely, American Indian nations. The Western Shoshone Nation is directly challenging this tradition in court and in the U.S. Congress. Their challenge brings to light the strange and startling fact that U.S.
Face to Face with Pope Francis to Get the Inter Caetera Papal Bull Revoked
On May 4, 1493 Pope Alexander VI issued the Inter Caetera papal bull which called for non-Christian nations to be reduced and subjugated (“barbare nationes deprimantur”). On May 4, 2013, 200 years after our great Shawnee leader Tecumseh fell in battle on October 5, 1813, Dr. Debra Harry (Paiute Nation), Sharon Venne (Cree Nation, Treaty Six) and
Original Nations Anthem
Greetings Everyone, This “Original Free Nations Anthem” is dedicated to Standing Rock and their supporters, as well as our ancestors and “All Our Relations.” Our video “Original Free Nations” (two minutes and forty-five seconds) is a tribute to Standing Rock and the Oceti Ṡakowin (Seven Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation). It is intended
Water is Life for Everyone!
Steven T. Newcomb, (Shawneee/Lenape) overlooking Kumeyaay Nation territory Original Nations Anthem by Steven T. Newcomb & WB Pila Laronal This “Original Free Nations Anthem” is dedicated to Standing Rock and their supporters, as well as our ancestors and “All Our Relations.” Our video “Original Free Nations” (two
Toward a Future of Colonial Freedom
When people these days discuss the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they have no idea that seventy years ago, just before the end of World War II, such a document was already being envisioned. What was being focused on back then, however, was the “colonial problem,” which was a subject