Sask. Indigenous man says centuries-old Papal policy still affects people today
![Wayne Poitras Wayne Poitras believes that the Catholic Church's doctrine of discovery is responsible for many problems currently inflicting Canada's First Nations. (CTV News Prince Albert)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2022/5/1/wayne-poitras-1-5884030-1651440707936.jpg)
Wayne Poitras from Peepeekisis First Nation says many of the problems First Nations people face today are rooted in the doctrine of discovery.
“The battle, the effects of what happened 400-500 years ago, it's still happening, it's still there today,” he said.
According to the Assembly of First Nations, the doctrine emanates from a series of formal statements from the Pope and extensions originating in the 1400s.
"Discovery was used as legal and moral justification for colonial dispossession of sovereign Indigenous Nations, including First Nations in what is now Canada. During the European 'Age of Discovery,' Christian explorers 'claimed' lands for their monarchs who felt they could exploit the land, regardless of the original inhabitants," the AFN said in a 2018 paper calling for Pope Francis and Canada to denounce the policy.
Indigenous delegates present at the Vatican last month also asked the pope to rescind the doctrine of discovery.
“It was a recognition that all of those non-Christian territories were not occupied or the occupiers of the land did not own the land,” said University of Regina associate professor James Daschuk, who studies the effect of environmental change on the health of Indigenous people.
He said the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have both called for renouncing the policy.
“And really what it is, it’s calling for the powers that be to say that this was a mistake," said DaschukWe’ve got recognition of Indigenous title here in Canada, we're still sort of working that out. But I guess on paper that still exists in 2022.”
If the doctrine is renounced, the ownership of land in Canada that was expropriated from Indigenous people could come into question, he explained.
“Academic research and legal investigations are muddying that field because First Nations are adamant that they agreed to share the land rather than surrender the land," Daschuk said.
“It was just to take over everything in the land,” Poitras said about the doctrine. “Claim it and whatever happened, happened. Good or bad, but mostly bad.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6963806.1721000812!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Trudeau says he spoke with Trump after shooting, condemned political violence
The Prime Minister's office says Justin Trudeau spoke this afternoon with former president Donald Trump in the wake of a deadly shooting at one of his campaign rallies on Saturday.
What we know about the 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump
The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., as the suspect in Saturday's attempted assassination of former U.S. president Donald Trump at a campaign rally.
UBC investigating professor’s social media post following Trump assassination attempt
The University of British Columbia is investigating a now-deleted social media post from one of its faculty members that appeared to be wishing an assassination attempt on Donald Trump had been successful.
What an ex-FBI agent noticed in the aftermath of Donald Trump rally shooting
An apparent assassination attempt has many questioning how a shooting that wounded former U.S. president Donald Trump was even possible.
Recovery mission underway in Port Stanley after 14 year old goes missing in Lake Erie
A volunteer human chain was walking the water’s edge in Port Stanley, Ont. Sunday in search of a boy went missing in Lake Erie. Around 2:30 p.m. OPP and Central Elgin Fire were dispatched to the main beach after a 14 year old entered the water and did not resurface.
LCBO reverses plan to open select stores on Friday as strike continues
The LCBO has reversed its plan to open select stores on Friday as retail workers continue to strike across the province, according to a statement from the Crown corporation on Sunday.
Copa 2024: Argentina beats Columbia 1-0, winning their 16th Copa America title
Argentina won its second straight Copa America championship, overcoming Lionel Messi’s second-half leg injury to beat Colombia 1-0.
Obituary Shannen Doherty, '90210' actress, dies at 53, People magazine reports
American actor Shannen Doherty, best known for her role as high school student Brenda Walsh on hit 1990s television drama 'Beverly Hills, 90210,' has died at age 53 following a years-long battle with cancer.
Read the letter from Melania Trump responding to attempted assassination of Donald Trump
Former first lady Melania Trump issued her first public response since her husband, former President Donald Trump, was injured in a shooting at one of his rallies on Saturday.