Episode 3: Symbols, Enigmas, Curiosity
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We explore symbols — statues, seals, emblems, etc. — in the process of reality creation — especially a domination reality.
Description
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 continue to shape present realities. The conversation explores why controversies over removing or preserving "unacceptable" symbols matter so deeply: because destroying these markers erases critical evidence of the ideological foundations that still govern Indigenous-colonial relations today. Throughout, Steve and Peter trace these patterns back to Original Peoples' free and independent existence, asking what symbols reveal about the pretensions of empire and the enduring power of curiosity as a tool for seeing through domination's constructed narratives.
We explore symbols — statues, seals, emblems, etc. — in the process of reality creation — especially a domination reality.
- What do symbols mean? Why are they important? Why are they even there?
- How symbols emerge from a mental and behavioral world
- How symbols work to create a view of reality
- How symbols can be studied as entrances into a worldview
- How hiding / destroying / replacing ‘unacceptable’ symbols is destruction of evidence of a ‘past’ that may still be Present
- How Curiosity is the energy of inquiry
- Once again, we start from Original Peoples’ free and independent existence extending back to the beginning of time.
Transcript
Citation
Newcomb, Steven T., and Peter d'Errico, cohosts. "Symbols, Enigmas, Curiosity." The Domination Chronicles Podcast, October 12, 2025. https://dominationchronicles.com/episodes/e003-symbols/.
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Play EpsiodeAbout Host
Domination Chronicles Host
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.
Steven T. Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) has been researching the history of U.S. federal Indian law and policy for four decades.
