Lamanite

According to the "The Book of Mormon", a Lamanite is a member of one of four main groups described in the book. The other three are the Jaredites, Mulekites, and Nephites. Those who believe in the Book of Mormon as a literal translation believe that the surviving Lamanites comprise some part, if not the primary origin, of Native Americans. Therefore, Lamanite is a term developed by the Church to identify one potential group of the ancestors of the American Indians who are believed to be descendents of these early Judeo-Israelite colonists. The existence of the Lamanites is not generally accepted by non-LDS historians or archaeologists.

In the Mormon faith, the Lamanites were originally called thus because they were defined as the descendants of Laman and his followers. In LDS doctrine, after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ he appeared to the people of the New World. After the visitation of Christ to the Lamanites and Nephites, the book states that the two nations converted to his teaching. The two nations no longer identified themselves as separate groups abandoning their earlier division and becoming one people. When divisions again surfaced, those who didn't believe in Christ took on themselves the name of Lamanites. According to the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites later ended up destroying the people who took upon themselves the name of Nephites.

Origin of "Lamanites"

According to "The Book of Mormon", the family of Lehi (a wealthy Hebrew merchant and prophet), the family of Ishmael, and Zoram traveled from the Middle East circa 600 BC to the Americas by boat. Some time after the death of Lehi (in the Americas), Nephi (Lehi's fourth son) overheard that his brothers were plotting to kill him, so he (Nephi) and his followers left and went into the wilderness. The followers of Nephi called themselves Nephites, though made up of several groups, such as the Jospehites, Jacobites, and Zoramites. The followers of Laman (Lehi's oldest son) were called Lamanites, though made up of Ishmaelites, Lemuelites, and various other groups of Nephites. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Jacob|chapter=1|verse=14]

The Nephites later discovered another civilization living in America, and the combined group also called themselves Nephites. According to the Book of Mormon there were many interactions between the Lamanites and the Nephites; intermittent war, trade, and proselytizing transpired with varying degrees of success. God initially marked the Lamanites with a darker skin color to identify them and their state of wickedness. The Nephites were initially righteous, though over time, individuals and sub-groups defected and joined the Lamanites. Likewise, some penitent Lamanites defected to the Nephites. The mark remained a characteristic of Lamanite membership.

Following the American visitation of the resurrected Jesus Christ the Lamanites and Nephites coexisted for two centuries in peace (from circa AD 30 until 230); "There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God." [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=4 Nephi|chapter=1|verse=17] Eighty-four years after the coming of Christ, "a small part of the people who had revolted from the church" started calling themselves Lamanites. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=4 Nephi|chapter=1|verse=20] After four generations this period of peace and cooperation between the two suffered corruption and decline as social and economic classes resurfaced. In the year 231, " [the] true believers in Christ" started calling themselves Nephites. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=4 Nephi|chapter=1|verse=36] The Lamanites became a larger portion of the population until, some time after AD 400, the Nephite people were destroyed in a series of large wars with the Lamanites. [sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Mormon|chapter=8|verse=3]

Theories about Lamanites

Modern descendants

Many Mormons believe that the Lamanites comprise some part, if not the primary origin, of Native Americans. Officially , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church"; see also Mormon) appears to accept this position, although the church has stated its view that " [n] othing in the Book of Mormon precludes migration into the Americas by peoples of Asiatic origin." [See LDS Church, [http://www.lds.org/newsroom/mistakes/0,15331,3885-1-18078,00.html Comments on the News] , taking issue with "DNA and the Book of Mormon", (February 16 2006), Los Angeles Times.] The introduction to the 1981 Latter-day Saint (LDS) edition of "The Book of Mormon" states, " [T] he Lamanites are the principal ancestors of the American Indians." [cite book|title=The Book of Mormon|chapter=Introduction|year=2000|url=http://scriptures.lds.org/bm/intrdctn] The wording was changed in the 2006 Doubleday edition, stating only that "the Lamanites...are among the ancestors of the American Indians." [ [http://www.sltrib.com/lds/ci_7403990 Single word change in Book of Mormon speaks volumes - Salt Lake Tribune ] ] Many Latter Day Saints consider Polynesian peoples to be Lamanites as well. [Spencer W. Kimball (July 1971) "Of Royal Blood". Ensign. p. 7.]

The 1981 statement position was controversial. Based on genetic and archeological data, mainstream scientists have concluded that Native Americans are descended from the prehistoric inhabitants of East Asia. For this and other reasons, many Mormon scholars view Lamanites as (1) one small tribe among many in the ancient Americas, the remainder of whom were not discussed in "The Book of Mormon", or (2) a tribe that intermarried with indigenous Native American cultures. [cite book|author=Thomas W. Murphy|year=2001|url=http://mormonscripturestudies.com/bomor/twm/lamgen.asp/|chapter=Lamanite Genesis, Genealogy, and Genetics|title=Mormon Scripture Studies]

kin colors

In the "Book of Mormon", Lamanites are described as having a "skin of blackness" caused by God's curse on the descendants of Laman for their wickedness and corruption. Dark skin is never referred as the curse itself; rather, the dark skin was only a mark of the curse which God had placed on the Lamanite people.

:"And he had caused the cursing to come upon [the Lamanites] , yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, and they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them." (sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=2 Nephi|chapter=5|verse=21).

In Joseph Smith's alleged 1831 polygamy revelation, also known as the "Indian Polygamy Revelation," Christ proclaims that Smith's followers should take Native American brides so that their descendants may become white: [cite book | author=H. Michael Marquardt | title=The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary | publisher=Signature Books | date=1999 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=x5AJAAAACAAJ&dq=The+Joseph+Smith+Revelations:+Text+and+Commentary ] cite web |title=A photograph of W. W. Phelps' copy of the 1831 revelation which commands Mormons to marry Indians so that their posterity would become "white." | url=http://www.ldsfreedom.org/PAGES/TOPICS_PAGES/Polyandry_Data/indianpolygamyp230bshadow.gif| accessdate=2008-06-20 | quote=A photograph of the important part of W. W. Phelps' copy of the 1831 revelation which commands Mormons to marry Indians so that their posterity would become "white." The original is in the LDS historical department. ]

“ye should take … wives of the Lamanites and Nephites [Native Americans] , that their posterity may become white, delightsome, and Just.”

The 1831 polygamy revelation, which has never been canonized by the LDS Church, is comparable with Smith's quote from the 1830 version of the "Book of Mormon", 2 Nephi 30:5–6, that when the Native Americans receive the gospel, they will becomes a "white and a delightsome people," [cite book | title=Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi | author=Joseph Smith, Jr. | publisher=E. B. Grandin |location=Palmyra, New York | date=1830 | chapter=2 Nephi 30:5–6 | url=http://www.inephi.com/117.htm | quote=The gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them [the Native Americans] … [a] nd then shall they rejoice; … and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people. ] [cite book | title= | author=Joseph Smith, Jr. | publisher=E. B. Grandin |location=Palmyra, New York | date=1830 | edition=1830 | chapter= 30:5–6 ] [cite journal | author=Douglas Campbell| title=‘White’ or ‘Pure’: Five Vignettes. | journal=Dialogue | volume=29 | number=4 | date=Winter 1996 | pages=119–135| url=http://www.geocities.com/marcschindler1/vignette.htm ] though unlike the 1831 revelation, the 1830 version of the Book of Mormon does not specify that the Native Americans would become white and delightsome through plural marriage.

The "Book of Mormon" states that the Lord "denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile". (sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=2 Nephi
chapter=26|verse=33). In fact, prejudice against people of dark skin was condemned:

O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God. Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness..." (sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Jacob
chapter=3|verse=8|range=-9).

The "Book of Mormon" makes it clear that the color of one's skin has no bearing on one's status as a righteous or sinful person. Nephi, the son of Helaman, declared to the Nephites:

For behold, thus saith the Lord: I will not show unto the wicked of my strength, to one more than the other, save it be unto those that repent of their sins, and hearken unto my words. Now therefore, I would that ye should behold, my brethren, that it shall be better for the Lamanites than for you except ye shall repent. For behold, they are more righteous than you, for they have not sinned against that great knowledge which ye have received; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them; yea, he will lengthen out their days and increase their seed, even when thou shalt be utterly destroyed except thou shalt repent.(sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Helaman
chapter=7|verse=23|range=-24).

Several Book of Mormon passages have been interpreted by some Latter-day Saints as indicating that Lamanites would revert to a lighter skin tone upon accepting the gospel. For example, early editions of "The Book of Mormon" contained the passage: " [T] heir scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people" (sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=2 Nephi|chapter=30|verse=6). As early as 1840, with the Third Edition of the Book of Mormon, the word "white" was changed to "pure" by Joseph Smith, Jr. to more closely reflect the original intent of the Nephite authors.

The labels “Nephite” and “Lamanite” ultimately became political terms of convenience, where membership was varied and fluid. At one point, one writer stated that any who are enemies of his people are called Lamanites, and any who are friends are called Nephites:

But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings.(sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=Jacob
chapter=1|verse=14).

After the resurrected Christ visited the Americas (see 3 Nephi 11) the division between Lamanite and Nephite was not used because all the people had become righteous. In 4 Nephi 1:17 we read,

There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.(sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=4 Nephi
chapter=1|verse=17).

As wickedness slowly came back, the terms were brought back and used again as a way to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. In 4 Nephi 1:20 it reads,

And he kept it eighty and four years, and there was still peace in the land, save it were a small part of the people who had revolted from the church and taken upon them the name of Lamanites; therefore there began to be Lamanites again in the land.(sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|book=4 Nephi
chapter=1|verse=20).

The true believers began to call themselves Nephites. Many of the people, including Nephites, became wicked and by AD 400 all of the Nephites were destroyed in numerous wars with the Lamanites.

Notes

References

#Citation
last=Walker
first=Ronald W.
title=Seeking the 'Remnant': The Native American During the Joseph Smith Period
journal=Journal of Mormon History
volume=19
year=1993
pages=1–33
url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/jmh,14491 .

External links

* [http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/bookschapter.php?bookid=51&chapid=396 Lamanites] by Gordon C. Thomasson
* God and skin color: http://www.realmormonhistory.com/god&skin.htm
* http://www.shields-research.org/Books/Sperry/Budv-24.html
* http://mormonscripturestudies.com/bomor/twm/lamgen.asp
* http://www.lds.org/newsroom/mistakes/0,15331,3885-1-18078,00.html
* http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai195.html
* http://www.fairlds.org/apol/brochures/WhoAreLamanites.pdf
* http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/science/16maya.html
* Utah Messenger article from 1981 on the original Mormon view of race: http://utlm.org/newsletters/no46.htm