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15 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 847 (2011)
The International Law of Colonialism: A Comparative Analysis

handle is hein.journals/lewclr15 and id is 867 raw text is: SYMPOSIUM The Future of International Law in Indigenous Affairs: The Doctrine ofDiscovery, the United Nations, and the Organization ofAmerican States THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF COLONIALISM: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS by Robert]. Mille The majority of the non-European world was colonized under an international law that is known as the Doctrine of Discovery. Under this legal principle, European countries claimed superior rights over Indigenous nations. When European explorers planted flags and religious symbols in the lands of native peoples, they were making legal claims of ownership and domination over the lands, assets, and peoples they had discovered. These claims were justified by racial, ethnocentric, and religious ideas of the alleged superiority of European Christians. This Article examines the application of Discovery by Spain, Portugal, and England in the settler societies of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, and the United States. The comparative law analysis used in this Article demonstrates that these three colonizing countries applied the elements of the Doctrine in nearly identical ways against Indigenous peoples. Furthermore, the six settler societies analyzed here continue to apply this law today to restrict the human, property, and sovereign rights of Indigenous nations and peoples. This Article concludes that basic fairness and a restoration of the self-determination rights of Indigenous peoples mandates that these countries work to remove the vestiges of the Doctrine ofDiscovery from their modern day laws and policies. Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon; Chief Justice, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; Citizen, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Board of Directors, Tribal Leadership Forum and Oregon Historical Society. 847

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