Arts of Interpretation (Session ID: M21-201)

Date: Friday

Location: Tozzer Room #203, 21 Divinity Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138

1:30-2:30 pm: The Legacy of Charles H. Long

• Presenters: Davíd Carrasco & Raymond Carr
• Contact: Philip P. Arnold, pparnold@syr.edu
• Open to all AAR & SBL members

3-4:30 pm: How & Why White Supremacy Persists

• Chair: Adam DJ Brett
• Panelists: Philip P. Arnold, Natalie Avalos, Teresa Smallwood, Emilie Townes, & Corey D.B. Walker
• Contact: Philip P. Arnold, pparnold@syr.edu
• Open to all AAR & SBL members

The phenomenon of religion is exerting a critical role in the world. Our times require more robust religion theory. The tradition of the history of religions, as articulated by Charles Long, urges us to take religious phenomenology seriously. While the academy has spent years discounting and dismissing history of religions this panel investigates its continued relevance. Long foresaw how religion is integral to nation states and the rise of authoritarianism as an extension of colonialism as a context for cultural contact and erasure. There’s an urgency today for returning to Long’s critical theoretical framework from various perspectives with renewed vigor and creativity.

Doctrine of Discovery and Environmental Devastation

• November 21, 1:30-4:30PM
• Tozzer Room #203, 21 Divinity Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138
• Open to all AAR & SBL members

The phenomenon of religion is exerting a critical role in the world. Our times require more robust religion theory. The tradition of the history of religions, as articulated by Charles Long, urges us to take religious phenomenology seriously. While the academy has spent years discounting and dismissing history of religions this panel investigates its continued relevance. Long foresaw how religion is integral to nation states and the rise of authoritarianism as an extension of colonialism as a context for cultural contact and erasure. There’s an urgency today for returning to Long’s critical theoretical framework from various perspectives with renewed vigor and creativity.

1:30-2:30 pm: The Legacy of Charles H. Long

Presenters: Davíd Carrasco (Harvard Divinity School) & Raymond Carr (Harvard University)

3-4:30 pm: How & Why White Supremacy Persists

Panelists: Philip P. Arnold (Syracuse University), Natalie Avalos (University of Colorado Boulder), Theresa Smallwood (United Lutheran Seminary), Emilie Townes (Boston University), & Corey D.B. Walker (Wake Forest University School of Divinity)

Chair: Adam DJ Brett

The work of CrossCurrents and its parent organization The Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life (APRIL) has highlighted issues of inter-cultural contact between different religious communities that has dominated the field of religious studies for the last 50 years or more.² Along these lines, our work extends that of historian of religion Charles Long, for example, who examined religion’s role in settler-colonialism and the oppression of Indigenous Peoples. In Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) this reached a peak around the 500^th anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World. In more recent decades, multiple academics and activists have been focused on the DoCD.

Saturday, JUNE 14, 1:00-4:00PM

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

The Doctrine of Christian Discovery, The Jesuits, and Laudato si: Defending Mother Earth

A light lunch of Haudenosaunee foods will be served.

Unpacking the Doctrine of Christian Discovery reveals the genocidal legacy of the early Jesuit missionaries whose ideologies were driven by a collection of Papal Bulls justifying their destruction and domination practices. In this roundtable conversation, scholars critiquing the Doctrine of Christian Discovery meet with scholars supported by Jesuit institutions to discuss ways of defending Mother Earth by disrupting colonialism and  environmental devastation.

Roundtable featuring:

• Philip P. Arnold (Syracuse University),
• Sandra Bigtree (Mowhawk, lndiginous Values lnitiative)
• Christiana Zenner (Fordham University),
• Kimberly Carfore (University of San Francisco), and
• Chip Callihan (Gonzaga University)

Onondaga Land Rights and Our Common Future:  The Quest for Justice

Monday, March 10, 6:30 pm

Syracuse Stage, 820 E Genesee St, Syracuse

Come commemorate the 20th anniversary of the historic filing of the Onondaga Land Rights Action. Onondaga leaders and educators Jeanne Shenandoah (Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan), Onondaga elder and Traditional Medicine Keeper and Haiwhagai’i Jake Edwards (Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan) will share important history and reflect on progress made. Onondaga Nation General Counsel Joe Heath will review the legal history, including the case currently before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Despite the fact that the US courts rejected the Onondaga Nation’s call for justice and healing, important progress has been made, including the recent return of 1,000 acres of land in the Tully Valley. The treaties upon which the Onondaga Land Right Action is based remain in effect and all people have a responsibility to uphold them.

On March 11, 2005, the Onondaga petitioned the federal court in Syracuse to declare that New York violated Treaties, the Constitution, and federal laws when it took some 4,000 square miles of Onondaga Land (an area that stretches south past Binghamton and north past Watertown). The State of New York, the City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, and five corporations for illegal land takings and damage were sued by Onondaga Nation for inflicting harm on the environment. Learn more here: https://www.onondaganation.org/land-rights/

Syracuse Stage is wheelchair accessible and CART will be available for program accessibility. Following the program there will be a reception with light refreshments. There will be tables from different organizations for getting involved.

The program is organized by the American Indian Law Alliance, the Indigenous Values Initiative, Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, and Syracuse Peace Council.

For more information contact.

American Indian Law Alliance

aila@aila.ngo

www.aila.ngo

Listen to the podcast on Megaphone, Spotify or Apple.

Credits

• Hosts: Mitch and Tanner Randall, Good Faith Media.
• Executive producers: Mitch Randall, Good Faith Media; Philip P. Arnold and Sandy Bigtree, Indigenous Values Initiative; and Adam DJ Brett, Syracuse University and American Indian Law Alliance.
• Producer: Cliff Vaughn.
• Editor: David Pang.
• Music: Pond5.
• Production Assistance: American Indian Law Alliance.
• Sponsors: The Henry Luce Foundation; Syracuse University; Indigenous Values Initiative; American Indian Law Alliance; American Indian Community House; Good Faith Media; Tonatierra; and Toward Our Common Public Life. We appreciate your support.

“The Religious Origins of White Supremacy: Johnson v. M’lntosh and the Doctrine of Christian Discovery” will take place on the Syracuse University campus Dec. 8-10. Its main sponsor is the Henry Luce Foundation, which awarded the University a three-year grant to examine and challenge the theology and legal theory of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery.

National experts on racism, white supremacy and religious extremism will participate in the upcoming conference, highlighting the College of Arts and Sciences’ role amid important global conversations that challenge the ongoing impacts of fifteenth-century Vatican policies on Indigenous, Black and brown people.

Press Release

Interested authors should submit a 150-300 word abstract, a 150–300 word biography, your resume/cv (if available), and a sample of a previous published article no later than September 30, 2022. The goal of this partnership is to support and amplify Indigenous voices pertaining to the Doctrine of Discovery, so priority will be given to Indigenous Peoples working in this area.

Each essay should be geared towards an interested and engaged public and undergraduate audience. Our first high-priority interest is in the following core topics:

• 200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh (JvM): Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism
• The Doctrine of Discovery and Law
• The religious dimensions of the Doctrine of Discovery
• The Doctrine of Discovery as a global phenomenon (international)
• The environmental impact of the Doctrine of Discovery
• Doctrine of Discovery and Indian Boarding/Residential Schools
• And other Doctrine of Discovery related topics.

Authors will be notified whether their proposals are accepted by October 1, 2022. First drafts or full essays are due by December 1, 2022, and final versions are due January 15, 2022. All authors must note their educational and social background in their biographies. Only original previously unpublished works will be considered. Authors implicitly agree to the terms of our Creative Commons License. We seek to amplify and prioritize submissions from Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island/Abya Yala. We also interested in an international range of scholarly contributions.

About the Project

The Doctrine of Discovery Project (doctrineofdiscovery.org) is a collaborative interdisciplinary open educational resource designed for use in higher education. It is being funded by the Henry Luce Foundation Grant, “200 Years of Johnson v. McIntosh: Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism,” for 3 years (2022-24).

About the Principal Investigator

Prof. Philip P. Arnold (Religion, Syracuse University) has been writing and working on Indigenous issues for over 30 years. With Sandy Bigtree (Akwesasne Mohawk Nation), they founded the not-for-profit Indigenous Values Initiative where they launched the Doctrine of Discovery Project site in 2009-2010. To learn more see: “Examining the History and Consequences of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery.”

Submission form

if you have any issues with the form please email your materials to info@indigenousvalues.org instead.

Transcript of Jake Edwards portion of the talk 1:34:35-closing. Thank you to Andrea L. Smith for the transcript. (Download as PDF)