Indigenous experts, leaders say Vatican's Doctrine of Discovery rejection marks step forward 

Indigenous experts and leaders in the Edmonton region say the Catholic Church's rejection of the Doctrine of Discovery is a significant step toward reconciliation.

"This is a historic day," said Matthew Wildcat, a member of Ermineskin Cree Nation and an assistant professor in the political science and Native Studies faculties at the University of Alberta.

Speaking with CBC News on Thursday, Wildcat said the proclamation will change how the history of colonization will be taught.

The Doctrine of Discovery is a legal concept, backed by 15th-century papal bulls, that justified Europeans' claiming of Indigenous lands. Court cases in the U.S. and Canada have relied on the doctrine. 

"As the moral conscience of Europe, the Vatican enabled Christian empires to commit genocide, starve, relocate and dispossess Indigenous peoples from these lands in the name of the Doctrine of Discovery," the Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations said in a news release on Thursday afternoon. 

Leading up to and during Pope Francis's visit to Canada last summer, many Indigenous people urged him to rescind the doctrine. 

The Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations said that was residential school survivors' "most prominent request."

In Maskwacis, Alta., the Pope apologized for church members' role in the residential school system but he did not mention the doctrine. 

Pope affected by visits: Archbishop

Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith told CBC News he believed the Pope's visit to Alberta, and the delegation of Indigenous peoples that went to the Vatican, paved the way for Thursday's announcement.

"The Pope was deeply moved by his encounters with Indigenous peoples, and he stated that openly and along the way, we could see the profound impact it was having just from his own facial reaction," he said. 

He said the Pope, having returned home, "clearly gave direction to his officials" to release a new statement — one that took time to complete and should not have been rushed.

Law and land

Blake Desjarlais,  Edmonton Griesbach MP and the only Indigenous member of Parliament in Alberta, said Thursday's statement is a "huge recognition" for Indigenous peoples.

"The question of whose land is this has been answered by the Pope's repudiation of this doctrine," said the NDP MP.

Aaron Paquette, the Indigenous city councillor for Ward Dene in Edmonton, said the church's repudiation of the doctrine opens the door to legislation changes. It could also help advance conversations about giving large swaths of Crown land back to Indigenous peoples, he said.

"The news today essentially says that this dispossession of land was not legal and not sanctioned and so it calls into question the manner in which Canada was formed," he said.

"Although this apology does not change anything directly in Canadian state law, it does add momentum to the argument that the Doctrine of Discovery is fundamentally racist and inconsistent with the equality of Indigenous peoples," said Tamara (Baldhead) Pearl, an assistant professor of law at the U of A who is from One Arrow First Nation.

Pearl said she hopes the announcement forces Canadian courts to recognize Indigenous nations' sovereignty.

The chiefs representing Treaty 8 said that First Nations have long called for rescinding the Doctrine of Discovery in a news release on April 6. 

"The Vatican did not rescind or revoke the Doctrine of Discovery — they 'Repudiated' it. This does not exonerate the Roman Catholic Church and their role," the news release said. 

The release defines repudiation as when a "contractual party" refuses, rejects or renounces their duty or obligation and said the Vatican's policies including the doctrine abetted the colonial governments.

"They established the most harmful policies against our peoples to justify the stealing of our lands and our children, murdering millions of our peoples on turtle island and deliberately displacing us from our lands to disconnect us from our way of life, our cultures, and languages," the news release said. 

"The Doctrine remains the basis for Canadian law that continues to impact First Nations to this day."