Native American people and Mormonism

Painting which hung in the Salt Lake Temple of Mormon founder Joseph Smith preaching to Native Americans in Illinois

Over the past two centuries, the relationship between Native American people and Mormonism has included friendly ties, displacement, battles, slavery, education placement programs, and official and unofficial discrimination.[1] Native American people (also called American Indians) were historically considered a special group by adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormons) since they were believed to be the descendants of the Lamanite people described in The Book of Mormon.[2]: 196 [3] There is no support from genetic studies and archaeology for the historicity of the Book of Mormon or Middle Eastern origins for any Native American peoples.[4][5][6] Today there are many Native American members of Mormon denominations as well as many people who are critical of Mormonism and its teachings and actions around Native American people.[7]

  1. ^ Hamilton, Andrew; Geisner, Joe; Newcomb, Sarah (January 2020). Mormons and Native Americans: Myths vs. Realities (Speech). Sunstone.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gathering was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference plaintiffX was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Murphy, Thomas W. (2003). Imagining Lamanites: Native Americans and the Book of Mormon. Ph.D. Dissertation (Thesis). Seattle: University of Washington. SSRN 2177734 – via Academia.edu.
  5. ^ Southerton, Simon G (2004), Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA and the Mormon Church, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, ISBN 1-56085-181-3, archived from the original on August 29, 2012 – via Internet Archives
  6. ^ Persuitte, David (2000). "The Book of Mormon and Ancient America". Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon (2nd ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 259–267. ISBN 978-0-7864-0826-9 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Struggle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).