European states granted Indian land to settlers while Indians still possessed it.

Evidence

While the different nations of Europe respected the right of the natives as occupants [with no recognized right of dominion or right of domination], they asserted the ultimate dominion [a right of domination] to be in themselves, and claimed and exercised, as a consequence of this ultimate dominion [claimed right of domination], a power to grant the soil [to Christian Europeans] while yet in possession of the natives. These grants have been understood by all to convey a title [of dominion] to the grantees, subject only to the Indian right of occupancy. — Doctrine of Discovery Project, The Marshall Trilogy, 58

Categorization

• SHARE: Perfect for the friend who litigates or studies property law — the colonial crown selling soil it had never surveyed, let alone governed, as the origin of American fee title.