Helaman 13-15
“This section of the text bears the heading “The prophecy of Samuel, the Lamanite, to the Nephites.” Helaman 13:1 explains the context:
“And now it came to pass in the eighty and sixth year, the Nephites did still remain in wickedness, yea, in great wickedness, while the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God, according to the law of Moses.”
Throughout the Book of Mormon, the law of Moses was an important part of the culture. Obedience of the law was a key indicator of the righteousness of the people, as this passage shows. Presumably the Lamanites began living the law of Moses as part of their conversion by Nephi and Lehi. (See Helaman 15:5, where Samuel emphasizes this point).
In about 6 B.C., “Samuel, a Lamanite, came into the land of Zarahemla and began to preach unto the people” (Helaman 13:2). He preached “many days” but was rejected. He was going to return home but the Lord told him to “return again” and preach. When the people would not let him into the city—Samuel identifies it as “this great city of Zarahemla”—he “got upon the wall thereof” (Helaman 13:4, 12). What kind of a wall could a man “get upon” the way the scripture describes Samuel’s action? Certainly not the wall depicted in the iconic painting by Arnold Friberg. (Picture Right)
Although the painting depicts an undoubtedly dramatic scene, it is nothing remotely comparable to what the text describes. Arnold Friberg specifically set his artwork in Central America, and many if not most LDS have been raised with this understanding of the setting for the Book of Mormon. Overcoming these long-held mental images is one of the challenges of changing the paradigm from Central America to North America.
What would be a more accurate image? [See Below] The text speaks of “throwing up banks of earth… and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands” (Alma 48:8).
Moroni’s America continued, “They built breastworks of timbers; “they had encircled the city of Bountiful round about with a strong wall of timbers and earth to an exceeding height” (Alma 53:4). These are good descriptions of Hopewell sites. They built mostly with earth and timber, but sometimes they built walls of stone by piling stones. Perhaps the actual wall Samuel “got upon” was more like the one shown in the painting (above), although more likely topped with timber, (as shown below left).
The likelihood that Samuel stood on a typical Hopewell wall is attested later in the account. After Samuel had prophesied, many Nephites became angry.
“But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows” (Helaman 16:2). The inability of the Nephites to hit Samuel had to be quite miraculous, because “when they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized” (Helaman 16:2).
Had Samuel been standing on a wall such as the one in the Friberg painting, it would have been a miracle for the people to hit him, not to miss him. Furthermore, when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him. And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people (Helaman 16:6-7).
Samuel had to be close enough that the people could seize him and bind him. And the wall had to be low enough that he could “cast himself down” from it. This entire description suggests the kind of wall built by Hopewell Indians, and not a high wall made of carved blocks of stone.
When Samuel gets upon the wall, he introduces himself and declares an alarming prophecy:
Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people… And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. (Helaman 13:5, 9), emphasis added.”
“What is the significance of the four hundred years? (Note 190) Genesis chapter 15 provides a Hebrew background.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
The Nephites to whom Samuel was preaching would recognize the symbolic significance of his prophecy. There are several references in the Book of Mormon to the children of Israel being in bondage and being freed. Ancient Israel was afflicted for four hundred years before the nation that subjected them would be judged; now the sword of justice would fall on the Nephite nation in four hundred years. Samuel’s prophecy, particularly in the context of the law of Moses referenced just a few verses earlier, demonstrates the Book of Mormon is a Hebrew text and should be interpreted with that in mind.
Samuel tells the people of Zarahemla that, “if it were not for the righteous who are in this great city, behold, I would cause that fire should come down out of heaven and destroy it” (Helaman 13:13). Later we see that the city of Zarahemla was burned (3 Nephi 9:3).
He names the city of Gideon, and then says “wo be unto all the cities which are in the land round about, which are possessed by the Nephites” (Helaman 13:16). Because Zarahemla and Gideon are on opposite sides of the River Sidon, Samuel’s prophecy suggests the cities destroyed in 3 Nephi are along that river.
Samuel condemns the people for having their hearts set on their riches, so the judgment that takes place in 3 Nephi is appropriate. These cities are buried in the earth and the water, and covered with earth, and burned—completely destroying the material wealth that the people valued over living the gospel.
I will address the actual destruction in the chapter on 3 Nephi, but it’s important to note that Samuel’s prophecy is not necessarily limited to the immediate vicinity of Zarahemla. For example, Samuel prophesied that “there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great” (Helaman 14:23). Yet when the destruction is described in 3 Nephi, only one mountain is mentioned, and it is formed when “the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah that in the place of the city there became a great mountain” (3 Nephi 8:10). This suggests fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecy in other parts of the world; even in the case of the mountain on Moronihah, a “great mountain” is not the same as a mountain “whose height is great.” Moroni’s America page 206-9 by Jonathan Neville.
Note 190: “Proponents of a Mesoamerican theory claim the 400 year prophecy should be viewed in the context of a Mayan culture the text never mentions. For example, in Mormon’s Codex, Sorenson writes, “An intriguing possibility of a detailed Mesoamerican correspondence with the Book of Mormon arises in connection with the prophecy of Samuel. He had announced that “four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people” the Nephites (Helaman 13:5, 9). (Here he nearly echoes Alma in Alma 45:10…) Another cycle in the numeration of some [Mayan] groups was 400 years. The 400-year prophecies by Alma and Samuel would be on a potentially correct calendrical target, even though so far we lack documentation form secular sources that prophecies occurred for a like period.” In my view, this is an illusory correspondence that is much better explained by the passage in Genesis, as are the other references to 400 years (Alma 45:10, Mormon 8:6, and Moroni 10:1).” Moroni’s America page 208
About Hopewell Walls
The website JosephKnew.com said, “This [Hopewell Culture] was a Native American culture that developed and spread throughout the Midwest. It is not associated with any specific tribe, but rather is a way of life that was common throughout the heartland of North America, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Mississippi, and the Ohio Valley. The main concentration was found in these areas, but evidence of them can be found in other areas as well.
They built their cities mainly near waterways such as rivers and lakes that could support their trade system. They created large enclosures of earthen walls 2 -3 meters high. These walls outlined shapes such as squares, circles and octagons. They created entire cities using geometry and astronomy. Their sacred enclosures often occupied spaces of over 100 acres and were laid out in distinctive patterns aligned with the sun, moon and stars.”
Samuel the Lamanite and additional Information including the Indian Removal Act
The Book of Mormon, which contained Lehi’s prophecies, was published in March, 1830. The infamous “Indian Removal Act” was passed by Congress on May 28, 1830.
In speaking to the Lamanites and others who are disobedient, the Book of Mormon said, “and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten.” 2 Nephi 1:10-11
At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk thousands of miles to a specially designated “Indian territory” across the Mississippi River. This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the “Trail of Tears.”
“Samuel [The Lamanite] here gives important keys to identifying the Lamanites in the latter days. We should be looking for a people who were “driven to and fro upon the face of the earth.” They will have been “hunted, and smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge.” This is an accurate description of the fate of the American Indians, as is well known in history. The Lord sent Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt and others to the Lamanites—Indian tribes—in New York, Ohio, Missouri and Kansas.
Although Indians had been “to and fro” ever since the Europeans arrived, the Indian Removal Act—enacted in 1830 after the Book of Mormon was translated—gave President Andrew Jackson authority to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes who lived east of the Mississippi. Before becoming President, Jackson had waged war against the Indians, including the Creek nation that lost 22 million acres of land in Georgia and Alabama. By 1837, most of the southeastern tribes had been removed from their homeland, “smitten and scattered abroad,” with no place for a refuge other than government-operated reservations that were, in many cases, difficult places to live and without resources. The legacy of this treatment continues today, with many Indian nations suffering from high levels of poverty, substance abuse, and poor health.” By contrast, Mayan peoples in Central America generally occupy their ancestral homes.” Jonathan Neville, Moroni’s America
The southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into Babylonian captivity about 570 BC. Since that time they have been scattered all over the world similar to the Native Americans who were scattered during the middle of 19th century.
Today 2021, there are just over 15 million Jews in the world and about 2 million Native Americans. Have we forgotten that the Hebrew and the Native Americans are blood relatives. A scattering has happened to both as well as their numbers are few as they are truly scattered everywhere.
The Jew, of whom the Lamanites are a Remnant
“And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God—Which is my word to the Gentile, that soon it may go to the Jew, of whom the Lamanites are a remnant, that they may believe the gospel, and look not for a Messiah to come who has already come.” D&C 29:26-27
“Which is my word to the Gentile, that soon it may go to the Jew, of whom the Lamanites are a remnant, that they may believe the gospel, and look not for a Messiah to come who has already come.” D&C 19:27
“And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews.” 2 Nephi 30:4
Other Rock and Earth Walls in North America
“Scattered throughout the woods and fields of New England lie the remains of an ancient civilization. These remnants are enigmatic stone structures that predate European settlement. Standing stone circles, hundreds of impressive and elaborate stone chambers, massive balanced stones, over one million stone cairns, stone animal effigies, solstice and equinox markers and many other unexplained structures litter the landscape. Historical texts, colonial reports, carbon dating, astro-archeological research and Native American oral traditions all support this contention. Written by Jim Vieira a stone mason, researcher, freelance writer and member of the Northeast Antiquities Research Association… The Adena, Hopewell and Mississippian mound building cultures built earthen mounds, pyramids and geometric enclosures that showed an extremely high degree of engineering and mathematical skill. Shell and midden mounds were built from Florida to Maine. Mystery stone walls and forts were built throughout the midwestern states…
America’s Stonehenge in Salem, New Hampshire is probably the most elaborate and controversial site in New England. It has been described by Dr. Edward J. Kealy, professor of History at Holy Cross University as “potentially the most important stone complex in the Northern Hemisphere”. Featured on the History Channel and other programs, this 30 acre complex is a mixture of stone chambers, stone solstice and equinox markers, cairns, chimneys, fireplaces and stone drains. The two largest stones here weigh 45 and 70 tons. The site has been carbon dated to at least 2000 B.C. by scientists at Geochron Labs of Cambridge, Mass after dating 13 different test pits. That dates it’s construction half a millenia before the final construction phase of Stonehenge, and like Stonehenge it possesses many precise astronomical alignments. Stone markers throughout the site provide over 200 alignments with the sun, moon and 45 different stars which have been verified by independent researchers. One alignment wall allows a person to observe the southern most standstill of the moon on its 18.61 year metonic cycle. A period of 18.61 is required to carry the moon to all of its possible positions in respect to the sun. This event is marked at Mystery Hill as the moon passes above the winter solstice stone and then aligns with the terminal of this wall…
Thomas Jefferson, Yale President Ezra Stiles, Cotton Mather, Roger Williams and countless others described the different structures they saw and theorized about who the builders might be. There is certainly a mystery here and the closer you look, the stranger it gets.”
Jim Vieira I am a stone mason, researcher, freelance writer and member of the Northeast Antiquities Research Association. I can be reached at [email protected]. https://barbaradelong.com/special-projects/secrets-of-the-stones/search-for-the-mysterious-stone-builders-of-new-england-2/
If Noah wanted to look over all the land round about, there could hardly be a better place to do so than Lookout Mountain which rises out of the river valley above Chattanooga to a height of almost 2,400 feet. On clear days, mountains 100 miles away are visible from the summit. The tower was near the temple, but there is no description of where the temple was. It may have been enclosed in walls within the city, or it may have been built on a high place, which would explain why Noah built his tower near the temple.
In Mosiah 19, Gideon chased King Noah to the tower, from which Noah saw “the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land” (verse 6). It is unlikely a tower could be high enough to provide such a panoramic view unless it was built on a high place, such as Lookout Mountain. If the Book of Mormon did not take place in or around Chattanooga, it had to have taken place somewhere with similar topographical features.
The Lamanites would not have expected this, so apparently there were no guards along that route. A Lamanite army pursued Limhi’s people for two days, but then lost their tracks, probably at a river. This suggests that Limhi’s people traveled overland for a while before reaching a river, which is consistent with the proposed route Ammon took when he followed a river to its source and then crossed land to reach the hills overlooking the land of Shilom [Which is just north of Chattanooga]. With the Lamanite army in pursuit, it seems unlikely that the people of Limhi could have built boats quickly enough to accommodate all the people, their animals, and their provisions. Perhaps they walked down the river far enough to hide their tracks and then continued overland. The text implies the journey took a long time: “after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla” (Mosiah 22:13). [Near Nauvoo, Illinois]
Of course, this is merely one of many scenarios possible in this area of the country. There are many other rivers and archaeological sites in Tennessee where the events described in the text could have taken place. Pinson Mounds is plausible, based on the text, and I like it because it can be visited today. Most ruins from this time period have been destroyed. Other plausible alternative settings for the land of Helam would likely be about the same distance northwest from the city of Nephi.” Moroni’s America by Jonathan Neville page126-130 
1.City/land of Nephi is higher in elevation than land of Zarahemla and place of first landing. 2.Land of Zarahemla is north of Nephi, but downstream; Tennessee River is one of the few that flows north. 3.King Noah built a tower that let him see at least 3 lands, so it had to be high. (Lookout Mountain 2,400 FT) 4.Archaeology shows the area was inhabited during the relevant time periods.
50 MINERAL SPRINGS USED FOR A HOSPITAL OF HEALING DURING THE CIVIL WAR INHABITED 1500 BC + “Due to its unique geological formation, there has always been an Indian village in the gap of White Oak Mountain and Taylor’s Ridge in Ringgold, Catoosa County, Georgia. This was a woodland village, primarily early to middle woodland, occupied roughly from 600 B.C. to about 700 A.D. There is a little bit of late archaic artifacts that go back to roughly 2000 B.C.,” Randall Frank The Catoosa County Historical Society
Due to its unique geological formation, there has always been an Indian village in the gap of White Oak Mountain and Taylor’s Ridge in Ringgold, Catoosa County, Georgia. The gap in the mountains provided sanctuary for many years to several Southeastern tribes that preceded the Cherokee. The Napoche, Uchee, and Coosa Indians were among the first inhabitants of the region and were called the Mound Builders. Their mounds can be seen at the Etowah Mound site near present day Cartersville, GA. The descendants of the Mound Builders were the Muskogean, or Creek Indians. They built villages along the creek banks, and inhabited this region until encroaching white settlements pushed the Cherokees down from Virginia and Tennessee.
A 1986 reconnaissance level survey of an area in 
“Before we can look at specific Bible passages regarding the violence of God in Scripture, it is important to develop a framework which helps us understand what is going on within and behind these violent texts. I have six points of this framework, which I call “Choas Theory.”
Maybe this is too strongly stated. It is not that God doesn’t intervene; He does intervene, probably more than we know. He just doesn’t intervene at the times we wish He would or in the ways we think He should. “If God’s role in the world was that of a perpetual Mr. Fixit, it has not, to say the least, been particularly self-evident” (Capon, Romance of the Word, 189). And when God does finally show up to “fix things,” it is not like Zeus—with thunder in His footsteps and lightning in His fists (as one Christian worship song so gleefully claims)—but with nails through His feet and hands and a spear through His side. “When the invisible hand that holds the stars finally does its triumphant restoring thing, it does nothing at all but hang there and bleed” (Capon, Romance of the Word, 221).
“For my first post in 2019, I’m showing another instance of M2C* censorship. This one is from the Brigham Young lesson manual (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church – Brigham Young).
Church historians concede they censored Cumorah in Saints
Great Heartlander Books
Along with “
2. “…This modernistic theory of necessity, in order to be consistent, must place the waters of Ripliancum and the Hill Cumorah some place within the restricted territory of Central America, notwithstanding the teachings of the Church to the contrary for upwards of 100 years. Because of this theory some members of the Church have become confused and greatly disturbed in their faith in the Book of Mormon. It is for this reason that evidence is here presented to show that it is not only possible that these places could be located as the Church has held during the past century, but that in very deed such is the case… It is known that the Hill Cumorah where the Nephites were destroyed is the hill where the Jaredites were also destroyed. This hill was known to the Jaredites as Ramah. It was approximately near to the waters of Ripliancum, which the Book of Ether says, “by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all… It must be conceded that this description fits perfectly the land of Cumorah in New York, as it has been known since the visitation of Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith, for the hill is in the proximity of the Great Lakes and also in the land of many rivers and fountains. Moreover, the Prophet Joseph Smith himself is on record, definitely declaring the present hill called Cumorah to be the exact hill spoken of in the Book of Mormon. Further, the fact that all of his associates from the beginning down have spoken of it as the identical hill where Mormon and Moroni hid the records, must carry some weight. It is difficult for a reasonable person to believe that such men as Oliver Cowdery. Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, David Whitmer, and many others, could speak frequently of the Spot where the Prophet Joseph Smith obtained the plates as the Hill Cumorah, and not be corrected by the Prophet, if that were not the fact. That they did speak of this hill in the days of the Prophet in this definite manner is an established record of history.” Doctrines of Salvation Joseph Fielding Smith Chapter 12
4. “Both the Nephite and Jaredite civilizations fought their final great wars of extinction at and near the Hill Cumorah (or Ramah as the Jaredites termed it), which hill is located between Palmyra and Manchester in the western part of the state of New York. It was here that Moroni hid up the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. (Morm. 6; Ether 15.) Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and many of the early brethren, who were familiar with all the circumstances attending the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in this dispensation, have left us pointed testimony as to the identity and location of Cumorah or Ramah.” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 232-241.) (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine “CUMORAH,” 1966, p. 175)
7. “Millennia ago he declared: “There shall none come into this land [he was speaking of America] save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord… In the western part of the state of New York near Palmyra is a prominent hill known as the “hill Cumorah.” (Morm. 6:6.) On July twenty-fifth of this year, as I stood on the crest of that hill admiring with awe the breathtaking panorama which stretched out before me on every hand, my mind reverted to the events which occurred in that vicinity some twenty-five centuries ago—events which brought to an end the great Jaredite nation… Thus perished at the foot of Cumorah the remnant of the once mighty Jaredite nation, of whom the Lord had said, “There shall be none greater … upon all the face of the earth.” (Ether 1:43.)… This second civilization to which I refer, the Nephites, flourished in America between 600 B.C. and A.D. 400. Their civilization came to an end for the same reason, at the same place, and in the same manner as did the Jaredites… The tragic fate of the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations is proof positive that the Lord meant it when he said that this “is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.” (Ether 2:9.) This information, wrote Moroni, addressing himself to us who today occupy this land, “cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles” (now, Gentiles is the term used by the Book of Mormon prophets to refer to the present inhabitants of America and to the peoples of the old world from which they came)… Now my beloved brethren and sisters everywhere, both members of the Church and nonmembers, I bear you my personal witness that I know that the things I have presented to you today are true—both those pertaining to past events and those pertaining to events yet to come. The issue we face is clear and well defined. The choice is ours. The question is: Shall we of this dispensation repent and obey the laws of the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, or shall we continue to defy them until we ripen in iniquity That we will repent and obey and thereby qualify to receive the blessings promised to the righteous in this land, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.” America’s Destiny Marion G. Romney Oct 1975
10. [Heber C. Kimball] “prophesied that when the final last struggle came to this nation it would be at the Hill Cumorah where both of the former Nations [Jaredite and Nephite] were destroyed” (abt. Heber C. Kimball) Wilford Woodruff’s Journal 6:305, December 17, 1866
14. McGavin and Bean explain their point of view concerning the identity of the Hill Cumorah as an ancient battlefield. The authors conclude that the scholars “need not search for [Cumorah] in Mexico or Yucatan” E. Cecil McGavin and Willard W. Bean “Cumorah-Land, An Ancient Battlefield,” in The Improvement Era 44, September 1941, 526, 571-72.
21. “On the title page I read that it is “written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile.” In the introduction to the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, it says that the Lamanites “are among the ancestors of the American Indians.” As I read the Book of Mormon, it seemed to me that it was about my American Indian ancestors. It tells the story of a people, a part of which were later described as “Lamanites,” who migrated from Jerusalem to a “land of promise” (1 Nephi 2:20) about 600 B.C.” “Come unto Me, O Ye House of Israel” By Elder Larry Echo Hawk of the Seventy Ensign Oct 2012
23. “From the time Father Bosley located near Avon, he found and plowed up axes and irons, and had sufficient to make his mill irons, and had always abundance of iron on hand without purchasing. In the towns of Bloomfield, Victor, Manchester, and in the regions round about, there were hills upon the tops of which were entrenchments and fortifications, and in them were human bones, axes, tomahawks, points of arrows, beads and pipes, which were frequently found; and it was a common occurrence in the country to plow up axes, which I have done many times myself. I have visited the fortifications on the tops of those hills frequently, and the one near Bloomfield I have crossed hundreds of times, which is on the bluff of Honeyoye River, at the outlet of Honeyoye Lake. In that region there are many small deep lakes, and in some of them the bottom has never been found. Fish abound in them. The hill Cumorah is a high hill for that country, and had the appearance of a fortification or entrenchment around it. In the State of New York, probably there are hundreds of these fortifications which are now visible, and I have seen them in many other parts of the United States. Readers of the Book of Mormon will remember that in this very region, according to that sacred record, the final battles were fought between the Nephites and Lamanites. At the hill Cumorah, the Nephites made their last stand prior to their utter extermination, A. D., 385. Thus was Heber preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, above the graves of the ancients of Israel, whose records with the fullness of that Gospel, and the relics of their prowess and civilization, were now whispering from the dust.” Life of Heber C. Kimball by Orson F. Whitney Mounds at Cumorah
From this book, THE AMERICAN INDIAN (UH-NISH-IK-NA-BA) by ELIJAH M. HAINES we will show the similarity in some of the Indian languages, to the Hebrew, and that the former must have been derived from the latter. I have edited just one chapter of over 833 pages which focuses on Chapter IV, Affinity with the Jews. This may be a lengthy blog, but it is amazing how much information you will receive about the similarities of our Book of Mormon Lamanites with the Tribe of Judah from Israel. You will also enjoy some of the old pictures which come from this amazing book. I also share many online links to other wonderful books written long ago about the Native Americans of the United States. I know they are the honored brothers of Manasseh and it is our duty as Ephraim to bring us together again with the Book of Mormon. To Purchase the Annotated Book of Mormon 
This book has therefore been prepared with reference to this long felt want, and is such a work as the public mind and student of history now seem to demand. 
Among the early authorities cited, to show that the American Indians are descendants from the Israelites, Mr. Adair seems to be the principal one, and since his time, all writers who have favored his views, refer with unreserved confidence to the evidence furnished by him to this end.
Dr. Boudinot speaks of some Indians at a place called Cohocks, who called the high mountain at the west Ararat He says that the Penobscot Indians called a high mountain by the same name ; that he himself attended an Indian religious dance, concerning which he remarks:
Dr. Boudinot further says of the Indians: ” Their languages in their roots, idioms and particular construction, appear to have the whole genius of the Hebrew; and what is very remarkable have most of the peculiarities of that language, especially those in which it differs from most other languages.”
“Du Pratz was very intimate with the chief of those Indians called ‘ 
Charlevoix, speaking of the Indian traits and religious customs, and in reference to their resembling the Jews, says: ” The greatest Part of their Feasts, their Songs and their Dances, appear to me to have had their Rise from Religion, and still to preserve some Traces of it; but one must have good eyes, or rather a very lively imagination, to perceive in them all that some travelers have pretended to discover. I have met with some who could not help thinking that our savages were descended from the Jews, and found in 
everything some affinity between these barbarians and the people of God. There is, indeed, a resemblance in some things, as not to use knives in certain meals, and not to break the bones of the beast they ate at those times, and the separation of the women during the time of their usual infirmities. Some persons, they say, have heard them, or thought they heard them, pronounce the word Hallelujah in their songs. But who can believe that when they pierce their ears and noses they do it in pursuance of the law of circumcision ? On the other hand, 
” By information received from Father Hoyt respecting the former traditions, rites and ceremonies of the Indians of this region, I think there is much reason to believe they are descendants of Abraham. They have had cities of refuge, feasts of first fruits, sacrifices of the firstlings of the flock, which had to be perfect, without blemish or deformity, a bone of which must not be broken. They were never known to worship images, nor to offer sacrifices to any God made with hands. 
Mr. Penn further adds that the worship of this people consists in two parts, sacrifices and cantos (songs). The first is with their first fruits, and the first buck they kill goes to the fire; and that all who go to this feast must take a piece of money, which is made of the bone of a fish. (” None shall appear before me empty.”) He speaks of the agreement of their rites with those of the Jews, and adds:
“They choose twelve men, who provide twelve deer. Each of the twelve men cuts a sapling ; with these they form a tent, covered with blankets. They then choose twelve stones for an altar of sacrifice. Some tribes, he observes, choose but ten men, ten poles, and ten stones. Here seems an evident allusion to the twelve tribes, and also to some idea of the ten separate tribes of Israel. Upon the stones of their altar they 
Mr. Adair, in further support of his theory, says: “As the nation had its particular symbol, so each tribe has the badge from which it is denominated The sachem of each tribe is a necessary party in conveyances and treaties, to which he affixes the mark of his tribe. If we go from nation to nation among them we shall not find one who doth not lineally distinguish himself by his respective family. The genealogical names which they assume are derived either from the names of those animals whereof the cherubim are said in revelation to be compounded, or from such creatures as are most familiar to them. They call some of their tribes by the names of cherubimical figures that were carried on four principal standards of Israel.”
The Indians count time after the manner of the Hebrews. They divide the year into spring, summer, autumn and winter. They number their years from any of those four periods, for they have no name for a year, and they subdivide these and count the year by lunar months, like the Israelites who counted by moons. They begin a year at the first appearance of the first new moon of the vernal equinox, according to the ecclesiastical year of Moses. Till the so-called captivity the Israelites had only numeral names for the solar and lunar months except Abib and Ethamin ; the former signifying a green ear of corn, and the latter robust or valiant, and by the first of these the Indians (as an explicative) term their Passover, which the trading people call the green corn dance.
In conformity to, or after the manner of the Jews, the Indians of America have their prophets, high priests and others of a religious order. As the 
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The ceremonies of the Indians, in their religious worship, says Mr. Adair, were more after the Mosaic institutions than of Pagan imitation; which could not be if a majority of the old nations were of heathenish descent They were utter strangers to all the gestures practiced by the Pagans in their religious rites.
Mr. Adair, in likening the Indians to the Jews on account of their abstinence from unclean things, says that 
A religious custom is related by Maj. Long, which some think goes to prove that the Omaha Indians are of Israel. He relates that from the age of between five or ten years their little sons are obliged to ascend a hill fasting once or twice a week, during the months of March and April, to pray aloud to Wahconda. When this season of the year arrives, the mother informs the little son that the ice is breaking up in the river, the ducks and geese are migrating, and it is time for you to prepare to go in clay.” The little worshipper then rubs himself over with whitish clay, and at sunrise sets off for the top of a hill, instructed by the mother what to say to the Master of Life.
“I have noticed that in all their principal and oldest traditions and lodge tales, twelve brothers are spoken of that are the sons of Getube, a name nearly similar to Jacob. The oldest of these brothers
There is a marked similarity between the customs of the Indians and the Jews in their mourning for the dead. Like the Jews, the Indians had a time or season for mourning for the dead. A custom among the Jews of loud lamentation over the dead was also a peculiar custom of the American tribes. In Gen. xxxii, 34, it is said that *’ Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.” This is suggestive of a like custom among the American Indians. Among the Indians the friends of the deceased visited the graves of their departed relatives and there resumed their custom of weeping and shrieking. This was also a prominent custom among the Jews, as noticed in John xi, 31 : ” She goeth out to the grave to weep there.” The custom of engaging women to mourn over the bodies of the dead, which prevailed among the American tribes, was also a custom among the Jews, as mentioned in Jer. ix, 17 : ** Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider ye, and call for the mourning women that they may come.”
The secret order of medicine men and prophets of the Indians had a corresponding institution among the Jews called “
A custom prevailed among western Indian tribes, who lived in villages of dirt houses, of 
In notions of dress there was a striking similarity between the American Indians and the Jews, especially in regard to the outer garment thrown over the shoulders or wrapped around the body. The Indian medicine man or prominent chief possessed a peculiar vanity in regard to their dress, which was frequently gaudy and fantastic, and so with the high priests among the Jews where display in dress was a peculiar feature in Jewish custom among those high in authority. It was a custom among the Jews to sleep in their garments, Deut. xxiv, 12-13, and so with the American Indians.
According to Mr. Freeman, it was an 
Rev. Peter Jones, an educated Ojibway Indian, in the appendix to his book, entitled “
