The Domination Chronicles Podcast

In this episode, Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d’Errico return to one of the most repeated phrases in federal Indian law and public advocacy: “tribal sovereignty.” But what does the phrase actually mean within the legal framework of the United States?

Steve and Peter argue that “tribal sovereignty” is an oxymoron when it is defined by federal anti-Indian law as “limited sovereignty” or as sovereignty that the United States has not...

Attorney Mark Savage joins us in this episode for a provocative discussion of the US claim of “plenary power” over Native nations and peoples. In the early 1990’s (!), Mark authored two seminal law review articles showing that the doctrine of “plenary power” has no basis in the US Constitution. In November 2025, in a dramatic move at the Supreme Court, two justices took the same stance!

Historian and lawyer Bruce McIvor joins us in this episode for a deep dive into how Canada’s colonizing legal system continues to attack First Nations with laws and policies dressed up in the

latest costume of “reconciliation”. Bruce is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, descended from the Red River Métis. His law firm, First Peoples Law, represents Indigenous Peoples across the continent.

In this powerful episode, hosts Steve Newcomb and Peter d’Errico dissect a February 2, 2026, The Economist article titled "The Indian Removal Act, Unchecked Expansionism, and Disregard for the Rule of Law." They expose how the author misuses an 1832 Muskogee Creek Nation memorial – a protest against settler invasion – to draw parallels to modern US immigration policy.

The discussion delves into the disingenuous framing, expl...

Episode 15, “STOLEN LAND”: The Danger and Limitation of Performative Speech, begins with the Grammys uproar after Billie Eilish said, “no one is illegal on stolen land,” and the fast backlash that followed. Peter P. d’Errico and Steven Newcomb argue that much of the public fight is performative speech: words that signal virtue or expertise while blocking real inquiry. They dig into the deeper structure beneath the sound and fury—ho...

Domination Chronicles opens the new year with a wide-ranging conversation that sets the direction for months ahead. We explore free existence and domination through close attention to words, meanings, and entangled histories. Drawing on legal documents, technology debates, and long-standing narratives of sympathy and apology, the podcast invites careful reading and sustained reflection. Future episodes will include guest voices and...

In this episode of Domination Chronicles, our hosts Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d'Errico commemorate seventy years of Tee-Hit-Ton v. United States. Our hosts reflect on seventy years of Tee-hit-ton to expose how U.S. law has been used to legitimize domination—both domestically and globally. They trace how the 1955 decision reaffirmed the 1823 ruling in Johnson v. McIntosh, which asserted a U.S. “right of domination” over Indige...

Our springboard is the 2020 Supreme Court decision, McGirt v. Oklahoma, that upheld US criminal law jurisdiction over “major crimes” in “Indian country” (via the 1885 Major Crimes Act, an act based on the claim of a right of domination by the US over the Original Nations).

We focus on the way the US claim of “a right of domination” under federal anti-Indian law is both visible and invisible in the majority opinion (authored by Justi...

The Domination Chronicles explores how everyday language hides systems of power. In this episode, Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d’Errico unpack the words we use—state, sovereignty, civilization, landlord—and show how they mask a “claim of a right of domination” embedded in U.S. law and Western thought. Drawing on decades of research, they trace how naming, translation, and legal rhetoric normalize domination while obscuring original ...

In this episode, Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d’Errico explore how quantum physics offers a fresh way to understand the idea of free existence. Drawing on the insights of physicist Federico Faggin and philosopher Hans Busstra, they examine how concepts like indeterminacy and entanglement challenge the rigid, mechanical worldview that shaped the domination system brought from Christendom to Turtle Island.

The conversation traces how c...

A dramatic Dissent by Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Thomas Opens a Path to Tectonic Changes in US Law. 

Episode 6 marks a turning point in the long debate over federal domination of Native Nations. Steven T. Newcomb and Peter d'Errico walk through a recent Supreme Court dissent from Justices Thomas and Gorsuch that challenges the very foundation of plenary power---the claim that Congress holds total authority over Native Pe...

The confluence of a 1975 article by Vine Deloria, Jr., and a 2025 law review article sparks a conversation about what's roiling our minds at the moment.

In 1975, Vine Deloria, Jr., wrote an article in Akwesasne Notes pondering “the future of Indians”. In 2025, fifty years later, a law review article proposed that “tribes” should have powers of “eminent domain” to “take” land for “public use”.

Steve and I discuss the strange and s...

In this episode, Steve Newcomb and Peter d'Errico dissect a recent concurring opinion from the Washington State Supreme Court that denounces the racist language in foundational federal Indian law cases while leaving the core doctrines of domination untouched. Using the FLYING T RANCH v. STILLAGUAMISH TRIBE decision as their entry point, they expose a crucial distinction: cleaning up offensive rhetoric does nothing to dismantle ...

In this episode, Steve Newcomb and Peter d'Errico unpack the hidden language of symbols—statues, seals, emblems, and monuments—revealing how these artifacts don't just reflect history but actively construct and maintain systems of domination. They examine how symbols emerge from shared mental and behavioral frameworks, become gateways into understanding entire worldviews, and serve as evidence of past assumptions that conti...