The International Law of Discovery, Indigenous Peoples, and Chile

117 Pages Posted: 30 Aug 2010 Last revised: 13 Oct 2010

See all articles by Robert J. Miller

Robert J. Miller

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law

Lisa M. Lesage

Independent

Sebastian Lopez Escarcena

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Law Faculty

Date Written: August 27, 2010

Abstract

The Doctrine of Discovery, viewed through the lens of six hundred years of international law, has shaped Chile’s legal history, from Diego de Almagro’s first footprint in the north to its later claim to part of Patagonia and Antarctica. A comparative law examination of the Doctrine’s long history in Latin America demonstrates that the European acquisition of Chile was founded on what can be considered today to be feudal, religious, racial, and ethnocentric justifications. The adaptation of many of the Doctrine’s elements into the Chilean government’s own domestic policies over the past two hundred years has had profound implications for its Indigenous peoples. Chile’s attempts to create a more positive and equal future for its citizens, just as the efforts of settler societies such as Spain, Portugal, England, and the United States, must begin with an enlightened recognition of this history. Only then can serious efforts to eradicate the vestiges of this doctrine from international law provide resolution of deeply-rooted issues in a place of justice and healing.

Keywords: international law, Doctrine of Discovery, colonization, settler societies, Spain

Suggested Citation

Miller, Robert J. and Lesage, Lisa M. and Lopez Escarcena, Sebastian, The International Law of Discovery, Indigenous Peoples, and Chile (August 27, 2010). Nebraska Law Review, Forthcoming, Lewis & Clark Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-24, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1667155 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1667155

Robert J. Miller (Contact Author)

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law ( email )

Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
United States
4809654085 (Phone)

Lisa M. Lesage

Independent

Sebastian Lopez Escarcena

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Law Faculty ( email )

Alameda 340
Casa Central
Santiago
Chile

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