In 1823, Chief Justice John Marshall handed down a Supreme Court decision of monumental importance in defining the rights of indigenous peoples throughout the English-speaking world. At the heart of the decision for Johnson v. M'Intosh was a "discovery doctrine" that gave rights of ownership to the European sovereigns who "discovered" the land and converted the indigenous owners into tenants. Though its meaning and intention has been fiercely disputed, more than 175 years later, this doctrine remains the law of the land. In 1991, while investigating the discovery doctrine's historical origins Lindsay Robertson made a startling find; in the basement of a Pennsylvania furniture-maker, he discovered a trunk with the complete corporate records of the Illinois and Wabash Land Companies, the plaintiffs in Johnson v. M'Intosh. Conquest by Law provides, for the first time, the complete and troubling account of the European "discovery" of the Americas. This is a gripping tale of political collusion, detailing how a spurious claim gave rise to a doctrine--intended to be of limited application--which itself gave rise to a massive displacement of persons and the creation of a law that governs indigenous people and their lands to this day.

Kallie is a young pioneer woman traveling the rugged Oregon Trail when her life changes in an instant after an unsuccessful river passage at Sweet Grass. After their solitary wagon is attacked and her husband and brother-in-law massacred, she is swooped up by an Indian warrior who shouts an exultant war cry, drapes her across his horse, and races across the prairie with her as his captive. Kallie must now rely on her inner-strength and stubbornness to survive within uncharted Indian territory. As the war party leads Kallie and her sister-in-law along the river, Kallies abductor, Brave Eagle, must reconcile his tumultuous emotions as his white captive quickly captures his heart. Shocked by her own intensity of desire toward her captor, Kallie surrenders to him without understanding exactly why. As Brave Eagle leads her to his village and into an uncertain future, Kallie becomes immersed in a world where danger and sickness lurk in the shadows and nothing is promised as her destiny rises up to meet her. In this historical romance novel set in the early American frontier, a white woman discovers love and passion with her Indian captor on the Oregon Trail as fate leads her into a future she never could have imagined.

How-and why- were UFOs so prevalent in both conspiracy theories and the New Age milieu in the post-Cold War period? In this ground-breaking book, David G. Robertson argues that UFOs symbolized an uncertainty about the boundaries between scientific knowledge and other ways of validating knowledge, and thus became part of a shared vocabulary. Through historical and ethnographic case studies of three prominent figures-novelist and abductee Whitley Strieber; environmentalist and reptilian proponent David Icke; and David Wilcock, alleged reincarnation of Edgar Cayce-the investigation reveals that millennial conspiracism offers an explanation as to why the prophesied New Age failed to arrive-it was prevented from arriving by malevolent, hidden others. Yet millennial conspiracism constructs a counter-elite, a gnostic third party defined by their special knowledge. An overview of the development of UFO subcultures from the perspective of religious studies, UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age is an innovative application of discourse analysis to the study of present day alternative religion.

The World Religions Paradigm has been the subject of critique and controversy in Religious Studies for many years. After World Religions provides a rationale for overhauling the World Religions curriculum, as well as a roadmap for doing so. The volume offers concise and practical introductions to cutting-edge Religious Studies method and theory, introducing a wide range of pedagogical situations and innovative solutions. An international team of scholars addresses the challenges presented in their different departmental, institutional, and geographical contexts. Instructors developing syllabi will find supplementary reading lists and specific suggestions to help guide their teaching. Students at all levels will find the book an invaluable entry point into an area of ongoing scholarly debate.

Building on critical work in biblical studies, which shows how a historically-bounded heretical tradition called Gnosticism was 'invented', this work focuses on the following stage in which it was “essentialised” into a sui generis, universal category of religion. At the same time, it shows how Gnosticism became a religious self-identifier, with a number of sizable contemporary groups identifying as Gnostics today, drawing on the same discourses. This book provides a history of this problematic category, and its relationship with scholarly and popular discourse on religion in the twentieth century. It uses a critical-historical method to show how and why Gnosis, Gnostic and Gnosticism were taken up by specific groups and individuals – practitioners and scholars – at different times. It shows how ideas about Gnosticism developed in late nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarship, drawing from continental phenomenology, Jungian psychology and post-Holocaust theology, to be constructed as a perennial religious current based on special knowledge of the divine in a corrupt world. David G. Robertson challenges how scholars interact with the category Gnosticism, and contributes to our understanding of the complex relationship between primary sources, academics and practitioners in category formation.

With clear instructions and plenty of screenshots, this book provides all the support and guidance you will need as you begin to create your classroom website. Step-by-step tutorials show you how to use Drupal in the most efficient and effective ways possible. People new to Drupal will find a good introduction of the basics; while more experienced users will learn useful tips and tricks for using Drupal in a classroom context.If you are an teacher, tutor or an educator who wants to build a website for your classroom, be it elementary or any higher education, "Drupal 7 for Education and E-Learning (2nd Edition)" will guide you in achieving your goal at every step. No experience with programming languages, HTML, or CSS is needed to understand the examples in this book.

When it adopted a new constitution in 1969, the Seminole Nation was the first of the Five Tribes in Oklahoma to formally reorganize its government. In the face of an American legal system that sought either to destroy its nationhood or to impede its self-government, the Seminole Nation tenaciously retained its internal autonomy, cultural vitality, and economic subsistence. Here, L. Susan Work draws on her experience as a tribal attorney to present the first legal history of the twentieth-century Seminole Nation. Work traces the Seminoles’ story from their removal to Indian Territory from Florida in the late nineteenth century to the new challenges of the twenty-first century. She also places the history of the Seminole Nation within the context of general Indian law and policy, thereby revealing common threads in the legal struggles and achievements of the Five Tribes, including their evolving relationships with both federal and state governments. As Work amply demonstrates, the history of the Seminole Nation is one of survival and rebirth. It is a dramatic story of an Indian nation overcoming formidable obstacles to move forward into the twenty-first century as a thriving sovereign nation.

Do You Believe a Poem Can Inspire You for the Whole Day? The Ascension Circus has come to town! These poems are inspired by simple circus themes, and as with the traditional circus of days past, are meant for ladies and gentleman and children of all ages. Section 1 introduces us to mythical Longboard Beach and some of the characters who live there. In section 2, while they wait for the circus to open, there is a talent show happening at the cantina. In section 3, we go to the newly created playground, Joy Playground where the child within experiences many emotions. In sections 4 and 5, journey through The Ascension Circus midway and visit exotic tents, meet curious people, and circus animals. Buy a ticket to explore a secret cave or for an airplane ride from the past with wing walkers. Life is a three-ring circus in section 6. The big top show entertains us with many different acts, some traditional and some never experienced before. After the fat lady sings, the big top closes and night dreams begin. Not to worry, in section 7, there is a delightful parade out of town. After waving goodbye to our new friends, we settle back into Longboard Beach with new, expansive perspectives. Our hearts are open to new possibilities. Thank you for visiting the circus!