In 2016 the Vatican, recognizing the need to understand Indigenous religious protocols, invited Indigenous spiritual leaders from around the world to Rome. On May 4, eleven leaders met outside of Rome to prepare for their visit with Pope Francis. JoDe Goudy, as chairman and a longhouse spiritual leader of the Yakama Nation, began with a song and prayer to honor his peers and the occasion. Each leader followed with a similar honoring and mission: revoke the Doctrine of Discovery.
The Doctrine of Discovery is the institutional pillar and origin of systemic racism and the global oppression of Indigenous people. One of the earliest examples of international law, the Doctrine of Discovery holds that when a European, Christian nation discovered new lands—which is to say, planted its flag on land unknown to other European nations—it acquired sovereignty over that territory and any non-Christian, non-European people living in it. This doctrine continues to influence law and policy in the United States: it was referenced in a 2005 Supreme Court Opinion by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The doctrine originated in a series of fifteenth-century papal bulls, in particular the “Inter Caetera” bull of May 4, 1493, which called for non-Christian nations and peoples to be “reduced to the Catholic faith and Christian religion” and “subjected” in order “to propagate the Christian Empire.” The Indigenous leaders’ visit to the Vatican marked 523 years since the bull was issued.