On September 24, 2015, the Continental Confederacy delegation in Lenape Territory (Philadelphia) took place focusing on the process of Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery coinciding with the US visit of Pope Francis. It featured leaders from Indigenous Nations from across Turtle Island - Abya Yala. Indigenous leaders from around the Western Hemisphere, joined by leaders of the Society of Friends (Quakers), gathered in downtown Philadelphia to urge Pope Francis to renounce and rescind the Doctrine of Discovery, a series if 15th century papal bulls that provided evangelical and legal justification for European explorers’ subjugation of native peoples in the so-called New World and still forms the basis of Indian land law in the United States and beyond. The gathering and press conference took place in downtown Philadelphia at Welcome Park, also known as the Wampum Lot, which was set aside for Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy visits to the then-national capital.
Rescind The Doctrine Of Discovery from Rugged Entertainment on Vimeo.
Below is a statement that came out of the gathering.
REAFFIRMING OUR ANCESTRAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO MOTHER EARTH AND TO ONE ANOTHER
DISMANTLING the DOCTRINE of DISCOVERY
CONTINENTAL COMMISSION ABYA YALA
Read at the Wampum Lot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
We have been called to the lands of the Lenape to unite and reaffirm our ancestral responsibilities as caretakers of Mother Earth in a time of severe climate change.
We stand together today to reaffirm our ancestral responsibilities to Mother Earth and to one another as original Nations. This coalition, and the agreements we have made among our collective Nations will further unite us in our efforts as we stand together to fight colonialism and its lasting effects.
We as Indigenous Peoples and Nations are the original caretakers of the land and have lived here since time immemorial. We, like our Ancestors have agreed to continue to fulfill this responsibility in peace and friendship with all other nations.
As caretakers of Mother Earth we acknowledge and recognize the ongoing impacts of climate change which affects us all, and that the most severe impacts will befall future generations. The denial of this reality by political leaders at the highest level in the world today amounts to the criminal violations of the human rights of future generations which we will not allow to continue.
As a coalition of nations of indigenous peoples that have agreed to work together, we are calling again to our younger brothers of the immigrant settler republics of the Americas to recognize the collective trauma of colonization, and the ongoing destruction to the natural world which has brought the human species to the threat of extinction.
This coalition and any agreements made between our respective nations will further unite us in our efforts to stand together in addressing the ongoing colonization in our territories and its lasting effects.
As children of Mother Earth may we all find the courage and vision to address these challenging issues in peace, friendship, and justice.
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