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==Question: How have views within the Church regarding the origins of the American Indians changed over the years?== | ==Question: How have views within the Church regarding the origins of the American Indians changed over the years?== | ||
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+ | {{epigraph|"Just as the history of the northern ten tribes of Israel after their exile in Assyria is a matter of speculation rather than knowledge, the history of the Lamanites after the close of the Book of Mormon record is a matter of speculation. The Church asserts that all members are part of the covenant house of Israel either by descent or adoption but does not take a position on the specific geography of the Book of Mormon or claim complete knowledge about the origins of any specific modern group in the Americas or the Pacific."<br><br>—"Lamanite Identity," <i>lds.org</i> (accessed 1 February 2019) | ||
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===Origin of the American Indians: 19th century views=== | ===Origin of the American Indians: 19th century views=== | ||
It is not surprising that some Church members concluded that all Amerindians were descendants of Lehi/Mulek. In fact, this was the initial conclusion drawn by many contemporaries of Joseph Smith. For example: | It is not surprising that some Church members concluded that all Amerindians were descendants of Lehi/Mulek. In fact, this was the initial conclusion drawn by many contemporaries of Joseph Smith. For example: | ||
* Lucy Mack Smith describing the Book of Mormon: "a history of the origin of the Indians."<ref>{{Book:Smith:Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith and Progenitors|pages=152}} </ref> | * Lucy Mack Smith describing the Book of Mormon: "a history of the origin of the Indians."<ref>{{Book:Smith:Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith and Progenitors|pages=152}} </ref> | ||
− | * WW Phelps, 1833: "That wonderful conjecture, which left blank as to the origin . . . of the American Indians, was done away by the Book of Mormon…"<ref>{{EMS1 | author=W. W. Phelps | article=The Book of Mormon|date=January 1833|start= | + | * WW Phelps, 1833: "That wonderful conjecture, which left blank as to the origin . . . of the American Indians, was done away by the Book of Mormon…"<ref>{{EMS1 | author=W. W. Phelps | article=[http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v1n08.htm The Book of Mormon]|date=January 1833|vol=1|num=8 |
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* Parley P. Pratt [apostle], 1837: "reveals the origin of the American Indians, which was before a mystery." <ref>{{Book:Pratt:Voice of Warning/Full title|pages=152}} </ref> | * Parley P. Pratt [apostle], 1837: "reveals the origin of the American Indians, which was before a mystery." <ref>{{Book:Pratt:Voice of Warning/Full title|pages=152}} </ref> | ||
* Orson Pratt [apostle], 1875: I refer to the American Indians, all remnants of Joseph and belonging to the house of Israel.<ref>{{JDfairwiki|author=Orson Pratt|title=Redemption of Zion—Persecution—Baptism of Indians—Second Coming of Christ—Every Jot and Every Tittle of Divine Revelation will be Fulfilled|date=7 February 1875|vol=17|disc=41|start=299}}</ref> | * Orson Pratt [apostle], 1875: I refer to the American Indians, all remnants of Joseph and belonging to the house of Israel.<ref>{{JDfairwiki|author=Orson Pratt|title=Redemption of Zion—Persecution—Baptism of Indians—Second Coming of Christ—Every Jot and Every Tittle of Divine Revelation will be Fulfilled|date=7 February 1875|vol=17|disc=41|start=299}}</ref> | ||
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{{SeeAlso|Book of Mormon/Lamanites/Relationship to Amerindians/Statements|l1=Statements by 20th century Church leaders regarding the relationship between native Americans and Lehi}} | {{SeeAlso|Book of Mormon/Lamanites/Relationship to Amerindians/Statements|l1=Statements by 20th century Church leaders regarding the relationship between native Americans and Lehi}} | ||
− | {{SeeAlso | + | {{SeeAlso|Book_of_Mormon/Lamanites/Relationship_to_Amerindians/Statements|l1=Collection of statements by Church leaders from 19th to 21st century regarding relationship between native Americans and Lehi}} |
===Why have there been different opinions on this matter?=== | ===Why have there been different opinions on this matter?=== | ||
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[[pt:Pergunta: Como têm vista dentro da Igreja a respeito das origens dos índios americanos mudado ao longo dos anos?]] | [[pt:Pergunta: Como têm vista dentro da Igreja a respeito das origens dos índios americanos mudado ao longo dos anos?]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Questions]] |
"Just as the history of the northern ten tribes of Israel after their exile in Assyria is a matter of speculation rather than knowledge, the history of the Lamanites after the close of the Book of Mormon record is a matter of speculation. The Church asserts that all members are part of the covenant house of Israel either by descent or adoption but does not take a position on the specific geography of the Book of Mormon or claim complete knowledge about the origins of any specific modern group in the Americas or the Pacific."
—"Lamanite Identity," lds.org (accessed 1 February 2019)
It is not surprising that some Church members concluded that all Amerindians were descendants of Lehi/Mulek. In fact, this was the initial conclusion drawn by many contemporaries of Joseph Smith. For example:
Contrary to the claims of those who attempt to use DNA evidence to discredit the Book of Mormon, some readers and leaders reconsidered these ideas. Some are fond of citing Church leaders such as Spencer W. Kimball, who was certainly a powerful advocate for the Amerindians or “Lamanites." President Kimball often made statements which supported the view that Lehi was the exclusive progenitor of all native Americans. However, many apostles and seventies have made many statements which differ from critics' understanding of the matter, taught them in General Conference, and the Church has published such perspectives in their magazines, study guides, and manuals. The Church’s university has passed them on to their students for generations. The Church’s official spokespeople disclaim the interpretation which critics insist we must hold.
When asked about the Church’s official position on this matter by a writer, a Church spokesman said:
It is astonishing that critics do not realize that this puts a fairly “official” stamp of approval on this perspective—at the very least, it is hardly out of the ‘mainstream’ of Church thought to think that others besides Israelites make up modern Amerindians, and this perspective existed long before the DNA issue came to the fore.
We have seen that Southerton and the other critics’ claim that a “Lehi-only” teaching has been the unanimous voice of the prophets is false. To be sure, there clearly have been Church leaders who felt that all Amerindians were descendants of Book of Mormon peoples (and, as we will see below, population genetics demonstrates that this is true). Some leaders and members have also believed that the Book of Mormon peoples are the only, or major, ancestors of Amerindians.
But, there have also been those who believed that Lehi was only one ancestor among many. Later readers were more likely than early readers to hold a “many ancestors” view. Why?
All readers approach scriptures from their own cultural perspective, and with their own biases. What biases did readers of Joseph Smith’s day have about American Indians?
Thus, in Joseph Smith’s day, it was “common knowledge” that the Indians were a single racial group, and so most likely to have a single origin. Since the Book of Mormon seemed to teach that at least some Indians must have come from Israel, it was a natural conclusion to see them all as coming from Israel since the early Saints likely did not even conceive of there being multiple “groups” of Indians at all. To explain some was to explain them all.
Elder Brigham H. Roberts of the Seventy noted the prevailing wisdom of his era:
However, the understanding of "the Indians" as a single, monolithic group began to change, and it is not a recent change brought on by the critics' DNA material!
In 1937, John A. Widtsoe [Apostle] and Franklin S. Harris, Jr., listed as one of the “claims” of the Book of Mormon that
Other members, such as Milton R. Hunter, First Council of Seventy, came to similar conclusions:
A more recent discussion by James R. Christiansen, published by BYU, said:
Thus, Christiansen saw the Jaredite remnants as playing a key, even dominant, role in the composition of the later Amerindians, and described “countless other transoceanic and Bering strait arrivals” as also important.
The text of the Book of Mormon has not altered on these issues, and yet the perspectives of both members and leaders has undergone a definite shift since its publication in 1829. Clearly, the growing appreciation that “the Indians” were not a single, monolithic block allowed readers of the Book of Mormon to see things that previous generations had not appreciated.
It is vital to recognize that leaders of the Church have expressed opinions on both sides of this question. This would seem to suggest that there is no “fixed” or “official” doctrine on the topic, since why would general authorities, Church publications, and BYU classes spend decades contradicting each other if there was a clear consensus about what the ‘doctrine’ was?
Well-known LDS scholar Hugh Nibley also argued forcibly and consistently for this point of view over a long period:
Quite simply, Southerton and other DNA critics are guilty of this “simplistic reading.” And, by his own admission, his theory falls flat if he indulges in it. The cautious reader might suspect that he has more interest in finding an excuse to discard the Book of Mormon, rather than a reason to understand it at a more mature level.
Notes
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