Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

250 • Truth & Reconciliation Commissionthe United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” The statementexpressed solidarity with Indigenous peoples and affirmed their rights of self-determinationand self-governance. The wcc also asked its member churches to supportIndigenous self-determination in spiritual matters and education of all members oftheir churches. 27The United Church of Canada responded to this call. At its meeting in March 2012,the Executive of the General Council of the United Church “agreed unanimously todisown the Doctrine of Discovery, a historical concept which has been used to rationalizethe enslavement and colonization of Indigenous peoples around the world.” 28At the eleventh session of the un Permanent Forum in May 2012, kairos, an interchurchsocial justice advocacy organization, made a joint statement with the Assemblyof First Nations, Chiefs of Ontario, Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee),Amnesty International, and the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers) onthe Doctrine of Discovery. The statement said that “while churches have begun torepudiate this racist doctrine, States around the world have not.” It recommended thatstates, in conjunction with Indigenous peoples, undertake legal and policy reform toremove “any remnants of doctrines of superiority, including ‘discovery,’ as a basis forthe assumed sovereignty over Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.” 29In his report to the un Permanent Forum, Grand Chief Edward John focused onhow Canadian courts have dealt with sovereignty issues.The highest court of Canada has recognized the need for reconciliation of “preexistingaboriginal sovereignty with assumed Crown sovereignty.” The SupremeCourt has taken judicial notice of “such matters as colonialism, displacementand residential schools,” which demonstrate how “assumed” sovereign powerswere abused throughout history. The root cause of such abuse leads back tothe Doctrine of Discovery and other related fictitious constructs which musttherefore be addressed. 30At the thirteenth session of the un Permanent Forum in May 2014, HaudenosauneeFaithkeeper Oren Lyons spoke about the principles of good governance as they relateto the United Nations Declaration. He said,We recognize the Doctrine of Discovery and its long-term effects on our peoplesled to the atrocities we faced in residential and boarding schools, both in Canadaand the u.s.… the Doctrine of Discovery has been invoked as a justification forthe ongoing exploitation of our lands, territories, and resources and directlyviolates Article 7 paragraph 2 of the undrip [the Declaration]. 31The Doctrine of Discovery and the related concept of terra nullius underpin therequirement for Aboriginal peoples to prove their pre-existing occupation of theland in court cases or to have their land and resource rights extinguished in contemporaryTreaty and land-claims processes. Such a requirement does not conform to