‘The Doctrine’ highlights St. Paul youth trip to the Vatican

Filmmaker Gwendolen Cates is presenting her latest documentary “The Doctrine,” featuring a St. Paul program at the Riverview Theater, 3800 42nd Ave. S. in Minneapolis at 7 p.m. on June 17.
The film follows a group of Native American teenagers and their teacher, Mitch Walking Elk, as they traveled to the Vatican a few years ago to voice their protests against the Doctrine of Discovery, issued by the Catholic Church in the 15th century.
The Doctrine of Discovery is defined as a legal and religious principle originating in the late 15th century that gave European powers the right to claim and control lands inhabited by non-Christian peoples. It was formalized through a series of papal bulls issued by the Catholic Church.

MEET THE FILMMAKER
Cates has made a number of documentaries over the years, primarily addressing the issues of Indigenous People.
Cates said her documentaries on Indigenous People dates back to when she was a child. “A couple years before I was born, my father wanted to learn the Navajo language and spent time living with them. He became very close to the Navajo and would take me to meet his friends. They became my friends, and that was a known part of my universe and an important part of my education.”
Cates has directed documentaries on the Onondaga Nation, the protest at Standing Rock, an Indigenous ballet dancer and the paddling trip the Onondaga made to New York City commemorating a treaty signing. She has written a book called “Indian Country” in which she interviewed Leonard Peltier while he was imprisoned.
“It is such a privilege for me to work on these projects and collaborate with and have the trust of people like Mitch in ‘The Doctrine’ and others like him to tell their stories,” Cates reflected. “I take that responsibility very seriously. We have continuing conversations while doing the filming.”

MINDFUL OF CHALLENGE AS NON-INDIGENOUS STORYTELLER
She said that people usually reach out to her to do a documentary. In the case of “The Doctrine,” she had interviewed scholar and law professor Robert J. Miller for another film. He called her and asked if she would like to do a film on the Doctrine of Discovery.
“I had learned about the Doctrine 11 years earlier from a mentor, Oren Lyons, so I had been immersed in all this a long time, and I said yes. But who would tell the story?”
Miller saw a post on Facebook by Mitch Walking Elk that he was trying to get some of his students to the Vatican to address the impact of the Doctrine of Discovery. They met and talked.
“We invited Mitch to participate in the film, and I met with him and some of the teenagers. We went to Rome just a few months later. And that’s how it all began,” Cates explained.
Cates said that every film has its own challenges, but a common one with documentaries is funding. Another challenge with “Doctrine” was the COVID pandemic. “I planned on doing certain filming the summer of 2020, and then had to regroup two years later.
“There is also the challenge of doing a film like this as a non-Indigenous person. I am very mindful of this, and it adds an extra layer of responsibility and accountability,” Cates stated.

HE ASKED YOUTH WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO
Mitch Walking Elk said that as a teacher, activist and being spiritual in the Native American traditional ways, he had always heard about the Doctrine of Discovery.
“I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but I knew it was not good for us,” he said.
“I watched a video called Unmasking the Domination Code by Steve Newcomb. The video told about the Papal Bulls, what they were and their impact on Indigenous People.”
This was around 2018, and Walking Elk was teaching in St. Paul at the Guadalupe Alternative Program, also known as Change Inc.
“I was teaching Native youth in the St. Paul School District,” Walking Elk said. “I taught them about ceremonial life and ways. I participated with them in ceremonies. I showed them the Spirit world.”
The program was funded by the St. Paul Children’s Collaborative. Walking Elk called his program Indigenous Youth Ceremonial Mentoring Society.
“We were funded on a two-year interval every year until I retired four years ago,” Walking Elk said. He turned the program over to one of the youth who had been a participant.
Soon after Walking Elk had viewed the video that discussed the implications of the Doctrine of Discovery, the Standing Rock resistance to the oil pipeline occurred. “Many of our families went on their own. When we got back, I showed the video again. I had shown it to the youth earlier.
“At the end of the video, I asked them how they felt. It was quiet, and then someone said they felt angry. I asked the youth what they wanted to do about it.”
Walking Elk said that he had learned from his spiritual teaching that when there is a sickness, you treat the symptoms, but you might want to treat the cause.
“We decided to take our cause to the source,” he said. “If the Papal bulls had a baby, that was the Doctrine of Discovery. Another baby would be Manifest Destiny. A cousin might be called Eminent Domain. All are related to the Papal bulls, where the Catholic Church gave its explorers the right to take Native lands. If they deemed people to be human beings, they were to offer them Christianity. If they refused it, the conquistadors had the right given to them by the church to enslave, execute or convert.
“We were one of a few groups that went to Rome over the past 20 to 30 years,” Walking Elk continued.
He said the group was told that the Catholic Church no longer acted under those bulls, and it preferred to focus on the present and future.
“We told them we understand, but that they needed to understand are the things that started in our part of the world and that our people are still reeling from,” Walking Elk said.
As well as being a spiritual teacher, Walking Elk is a musician and has traveled the world with his music. “In my experiences, I have seen the rise of the far right in places like Germany and Austria.” He said those movements and the rise of Christian Nationalism in the United States are a continuation of what the Catholic Church started. “It is not just the Catholic Church; there are other churches, too, but the Catholic Church started it.”
Walking Elk said the Vatican claims the Doctrine of Discovery was repudiated, but he claims that repudiation was overturned. “There is also no document showing that repudiation,” he said.
He pointed out that one of the activists in the film made a very important point.
In 2007, after 30 years of effort by the Indigenous, the United Nations made a declaration on the right side for Indigenous People. “It declared we have rights to our lands, our spirituality, our medicines and human created given rights. This was adopted by 147 members of the UN.”
Walking Elk said four countries voted against the Declaration: the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The United States said it went too far in recognizing the rights of Indigenous People. Later, the US rescinded its no vote.”
Walking Elk called it a baby step in the right direction.
“I want to do more,” he said of his activism. “I am in my 70s, but I want to keep doing it.”
After he retired from teaching four years ago, Walking Elk moved back to his native state of Oklahoma. But he continues to work as a musician, activist and spiritual mentor.
“I would encourage people to leave their minds open enough to go and see this documentary and at least consider the impact of the Doctrine, whether you are Indigenous or non-Indigenous. What can we do about it now?”
Walking Elk plans to attend the showing at the Riverview and will be part of a discussion following the film.

THE DOCTRINE AFFECTS TODAY
Cates said she prefers filming documentaries rather than fictional narratives. “Documentaries are about real people, real life and truth-telling,” she noted.
Cates emphasized and also shows in the film that the effects of the Doctrine of Discovery have affected Indigenous People globally, and those effects continue today.
She cited a recent story about Pope Leo XIV in which he apologized for the Vatican’s role in harming Indigenous People. “He referred to specific Papal votes accurately. The message was very timely.”
She said the Vatican has apologized for its role in the boarding schools across Canada and its role in slavery, but the Doctrine has not been annulled.
According to Cates, the origin of Jim Crow and the current situations in Cuba, Venezuela, Palestine and Iran have stemmed from The Doctrine giving a divine right for colonial expansion and seizing natural resources in other places.
She said she is currently busy with screenings of “The Doctrine,” but is also planning to revisit and re-edit an earlier project that has been on the back burner for awhile.
She has spent a lot of time in Iraq, embedded with the US military as a photographer for a month during that war and working on a project about the impact of war on the cradle of civilization and Iraqi culture.
She had visited historic sites and spent time with Indigenous People in Iraq and Syria, the Mendaeans and Yezidi who practice ancient religions. “I spent two months at a time living with families in their communities,” she said. “I would like to do the film as a journey. Its working title is ‘Mourning in the Garden of Eden.’”
For the immediate future, however, she is traveling from her New York home to Minneapolis for the showing of “The Doctrine.”
She said the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and Veterans for Peace, as well as numerous other sponsors, have been very helpful in setting up the screening of the film– especially Dave Logson, who helped so much.
“I have become so fond of Minneapolis since I started spending time there working on this film,” Cates added. “I know some wonderful people there, and the way that the Twin Cities came together as a community and responded this winter was very moving.”