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- Article No. 04

# Christian Control of Women and Mother Earth: The Doctrine of Discovery and the Doctrine of Male Domination

            Sally Roesch Wagner
            Matilda Joslyn Gage Center and Syracuse University

               March 3, 2026

                 |  doi.org/10.17613/satqx-3gq23

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## Table of Contents

This article explores the historical, religious, and legal foundations of Western domination over women, Indigenous peoples, and the Earth, tracing them to Christian creation myths, Papal authority, and colonial law. Genesis establishes a hierarchy: men are given authority over the Earth and all living beings, while women are subordinated as punishment for Eve’s quest for knowledge. These theological principles were enforced through papal bulls such as *Summis desiderantes affectibus* (1484) and *Inter Caetera* (1493), sanctioning the persecution of women as witches, the appropriation of Indigenous lands, and male control over reproduction, labor, and spirituality. The Doctrine of Discovery codified these hierarchies into law, granting colonial and later national governments plenary authority over Indigenous Peoples and territories, as upheld in U.S. Supreme Court cases including *Johnson v. McIntosh* and *City of Sherrill v. Oneida Nation*. Indigenous knowledge systems offer a radically different perspective: Mother Earth and women are sacred creators of life, and humans are accountable participants in an interdependent web of beings. Revitalizing these relationships through Indigenous leadership, particularly Indigenous women, is central to the process of rematriation—restoring the sacred to the mother—and addressing the ecological, social, and spiritual crises wrought by centuries of patriarchal and colonial domination. This framework challenges Western assumptions, calling for a fundamental realignment of humanity’s relationship with the Earth, life, and one another.

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          Keywords:

            doctrine-of-discovery

            patriarchal-theology

            rematriation

            indigenous-women

            ecological-justice

            christian-colonialism

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