DESECRATING THE SACRED
Desecrating the Sacred asks the viewer to reflect upon the contrast between the intense desire of homo sapiens to live free and the intense desire by powerful and influential people to deprive Free Peoples of their ability to live a sacred free way of life on their own lands by subjecting them to an imposed and ongoing claim of a right of domination.
Get Started Download ProspectusDesecrating the Sacred asks the viewer to reflect upon the contrast between the intense desire of homo sapiens to live free and the intense desire by powerful and influential people to deprive Free Peoples of their ability to live a sacred free way of life on their own lands by subjecting them to an imposed and ongoing claim of a right of domination.
Synopsis
Told through Indigenous voices and worldviews, Desecrating the Sacred exposes how the ideas and arguments contained in ancient Vatican documents were used as a blueprint to justify depriving the original nations and peoples of the western hemisphere of their sacred and free way of life. As a primary example, the movie examines how patterns of invasion and colonization carried over and maintained from the distant past continue to be used in U.S. federal Indian law and policy today. Ongoing patterns of storytelling and argumentation are used to deprive Native peoples termed “Indigenous” of an ability to live free from the U.S. claim of a right of domination.
Conquest Through Law
Because the U.S. claim of a right of domination is the basis of U.S. property law, that claimed right has resulted in and continues to result in human, environmental, and ecological devastation across this continent, throughout this western hemisphere, and on a planetary scale. From polluted lakes and desecrated mountains to rivers that were traditionally cherished and revered as living relatives, Desecrating the Sacred traces the deep historical roots of environmental devastation to the 'Sacred Right of Domination' claimed by the empires of Western Christendom, a claim which is still operational today in law, religion, and policy.
Goals
Through the words of Elders, land defenders, and Indigenous scholars, the documentary reveals a profound contrast: the Sacred Free Way of Life—a spiritual relationship of reciprocity and respect for all beings—against the Claim of a Right of Domination, which turned living worlds into property and the Elements of Creation into commodities used to ruthlessly maximize profit. The movie raises another question: Is it possible for contemporary Native Peoples who remember that their Ancestors lived a Sacred Free Way of Life to liberate themselves from a centuries-old claim of a right of domination as they work to restore their languages, cultures, and spiritual and ceremonial and ecologically healthy traditions?
Director’s Statement
Desecrating the Sacred is a film born from a commitment to truth-telling. The Earth is not a backdrop to human history—it is the first text, the first covenant. This documentary seeks to reframe environmental devastation as a moral and spiritual crisis rooted in the Doctrine of Discovery and its enduring legal and cultural echoes. By centering Indigenous knowledge systems and the lived experiences of nations who remember their original free existence, the film calls viewers to witness both the depth of desecration and the resilience of renewal. The camera becomes a witness, not an observer, to the enduring relationship between people and the sacred land.
Co-Director
Steven T. Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) has been researching the history of U.S. federal Indian law and policy for four decades. He is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and the influence of the Vatican papal decrees of the fifteenth century on U.S. law. He has published several law review articles on the subject. His book Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (Fulcrum, 2008), is the basis for The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code, a documentary film directed by Sheldon Wolfchild (Dakota). Original Free Nations and Indigenous Law Institute are two websites where some of his work can be found.
Co-Director
Peter d’Errico graduated from Yale Law School in 1968. He was an attorney at Dinébe’iiná Náhiiłna be Agha’diit’ahii, Navajo Legal Services, in Shiprock, 1968-1970. He was a founding professor of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and taught there from 1970-2002. He has litigated on behalf of Native prisoners’ freedom of religion; Mashpee Wampanoag fishing rights; Western Shoshone land rights; and consulted on other Indigenous cases. From 2010-2017, he was a columnist for Indian Country Today Media Network. His book, Federal Anti-Indian Law: The Legal Entrapment of Indigenous Peoples
Themes
- The Doctrine of Christian Discovery and the Claimed Right of Domination
- The Sacred Free Way of Life and Restoring the Memory of Original Free Existence
- Environmental Devastation as a Result of Spiritual and Legal Colonization
- Indigenous Resurgence And Efforts To Restore The Sacred Balance
Intended Impact / Distribution
Desecrating the Sacred is designed for film festivals, university screenings, and public humanities programming. The film aims to deepen public understanding of Indigenous sovereignty, the spiritual dimensions of environmental justice, and the ongoing consequences of colonial domination. Through partnerships with Indigenous organizations, educational institutions, and advocacy groups, the film will circulate widely as a catalyst for dialogue and change. Its ultimate goal is to inspire audiences to join efforts of restoration, protection, and re-sacralization of the natural world.
Style & Approach
Visually grounded in elemental forces—wind, fire, earth, and water—the film juxtaposes archival imagery, on-the-ground footage, and Indigenous narration. It contrasts two perspectives: the view-from-the-shore of our free an independent Native ancestors, contrasted with a view from the deck of the ship with the colonizers' gaze claiming to consecrating newly identified land for the purpose of domination they call 'civlilzation'. The view-from-the-shore, the Original Peoples' perspective witnessing the desecration of their pristine lands and waters the free way of life. These differing persepctives provide the context for the clash between a free existence and domination, desecration, and renewal.