Book of Mormon Evidence

Category: lineage

  • W.M. Bromley the first Mission President to the Maori’s sent by Pres Joseph F. Smith 1881

    W.M. Bromley the first Mission President to the Maori’s sent by Pres Joseph F. Smith 1881

    The Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. Why do they have this great faith? It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men.” Peterson, Mark E., General Conference, April 1962.

    Depiction of the Maori arriving in their waka

    “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is no perhaps about it!” Joseph F. Smit.h As written in Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,”

    Pres. Bromley Mission to the Maori’s 1881

    I have done previsous blogs about the Polynesians and the people of Hagoth A few weeks ago my sister Lori was reading the article and she noticed something familiar in my article. She saw the name W.M. Bromley as a missionary among the Maori’s and she knew our grandfather’s name was Clyde Bromley Nelson. She put two and two together and found out that my sister and I are related to William Bromley as he is our 2nd Great Grandfather. I’m sure many of you have felt a leap of joy when you find something new about one of your ansestors and my heart also leaped a little.

    This blog is about the first Maori members and about William Michael Bromley as he served as the first Mission President in New Zealand sent by Pres Joseph F. Smith in 1881. I served a mission in Fiji and Kirabati and because of my great love for the Polynesians this story was even more interesting. I think you will all enjoy it as well.

    You will also read of the miracles that happened for the Maori’s as they knew without a doubt that our Church was the only true one as they had visions from their Kings.

    1882–84 • New Zealand Missionaries focused their efforts on preaching among the Māori, resulting in hundreds of converts, many of whom saw Latter-day Saint missionaries as the fulfillment of Māori prophecies.
    Maori Traditions and the Mormon Church

    by R. Lanier Britsch

    Latter-day Saint missionary work did not begin in New Zealand until 1854, and even then progress was slow. Because of difficult conditions for the Church in Utah, the mission in New Zealand was an on-again, off-again operation until the late 1870s. By that time several branches of the Church had been established among the European part of the population. But little had been done by our missionaries to attract the native people, the Maoris, to the Church.

    Most Maoris had been converted to Protestant and Roman Catholic Christianity by the 1850s; but because they believed they had been cheated in land deals by the whites, whom they called pakehas, the Maoris made war on the pakehas. These wars lasted from the late 1850s until the 1870s. When the wars ended, the time seemed to be right to take the restored gospel to this outstanding part of the Polynesian race.

    When William Bromley was called as New Zealand mission president in 1881, President Joseph F. Smith told him that the time was right to take the gospel to the Maoris. The first successes among them came in 1883, but once the Maoris and the Mormons got together, Maori converts flocked into the Church.

    William Michael Bromley

    By the end of 1884 the missionaries had firmly established the restored gospel among the Maori people. The next several years were very satisfying to most of the elders and sister missionaries (several couples were sent to New Zealand beginning in 1885). In August 1885, there were 16 Maori and 4 pakeha branches of the Church, and this number continued to grow steadily for the next 15 years. At the close of 1887, there were 2,573 Latter-day Saints, and by the turn of the century there were nearly four thousand members of the Church in New Zealand. Most of the Maori tribes, including large numbers in the north, around Whangarei and the Bay of Islands, had been introduced to the gospel. In 1901 there were 79 branches. Clearly, since the early years in Hawaii, the Church had not enjoyed so much success with a Polynesian people.

    Why did the LDS Church appeal to the Maoris? On the surface the Maoris seem very little different from their Polynesian brothers and sisters elsewhere in the Pacific. But even though Polynesians of all island groups have taken well to the restored gospel, the Maoris appear to have been prepared in special ways for the coming of the Mormon missionaries.

    In pre-Christian times the Maoris had a well-developed form of religion. Tohungas, or priests, supervised worship and all else that was involved in this primitive religious system. Sometimes these men took roles similar to the shamans of northeast Asia. They became mediums for the atua, gods, whom they served. In these roles, according to Eric Schwimmer, the tohungas would give oracles, cure diseases, and admonish their people.1 After the establishment of Christianity, however, some old tohungas continued to carry on their former practices but now claimed to receive their revelations from a different source. In other instances family patriarchs, village elders, and chiefs acted as prophets and were “regarded with feelings of reverence and were credited with possessing supernatural powers.”2 No fewer than five such men made prophecies concerning the coming to New Zealand of the true church. As a result of such prophetic utterances, a number of Maoris ultimately joined the Church.

    Each instance of prophecy is of great interest to Latter-day Saints. Two of these can serve as examples. In 1830, the year the Church was organized, an aged patriarch named Arama Toiroa, who lived in the area of Mahia, gathered his children, grandchildren, and relatives together and gave them some advice. (At that time most of his descendants had joined the Church of England.) His people, who considered him a seer, listened carefully to what he said:

    LDS Maori visits

    “‘My dear friends, you must leave that church, for it is not the true church of the God of heaven. The church you have joined is from the earth and not from heaven.’

     

    “Upon hearing this his people asked, ‘Where then can we find a church where we can worship the true God?’

    “Arama Toiroa answered, ‘There will come to you a true form of worship; it will be brought from the east, even from beyond the heavens. It will be brought across the great ocean and you will hear of it coming to Poneke (Wellington) and afterwards its representatives will come to Te Mahia.

    “‘They will then go northward to Waiapu but will return to Te Mahia.

    “‘When this “Karakia,” form of worship, is introduced amongst you, you will know it, for one shall stand and raise both hands to heaven.

    “‘When you see this sign, enter into that church. Many of you will join the church and afterwards one will go from amongst you the same way that the ministers came even unto the land from afar off.’”

    Fifty-four years passed before Arama’s words were fulfilled. In 1884 Elders Alma Greenwood and Ira Hinckley brought the gospel to the Wellington area and then made their way to Hawkes Bay. There they were joined by President William E. Stewart, and together they traversed the path Arama had predicted. It was at Korongata, however, and not at Mahia, that Arama’s descendants first accepted the gospel. Brother Whaanga described the day when the gospel was first preached to Arama’s people:

    “In journeying northward they reached … Korongata, where many of us were assembled on the Sabbath day.

    “Amongst the people who were there was a grandson of Arama Toiroa whose name was Te Teira Marutu.

    “The meeting was conducted by Elder Stewart and his friends. The services were opened with singing and prayer, and a Gospel address was delivered, after which they sang again, and Brother Stewart arose to dismiss with prayer. In doing so he raised both hands and invoked God’s blessing upon the people.

    “As soon as the grandson of Arama Toiroa saw this he arose and declared that this was the church of which his forefather prophesied which would surely be firmly established amongst the Maori people.

    “He and his wife applied for baptism, and they and their children were thus initiated into the Church by Elder Stewart.”3

    Matthew Cowley

    Subsequently the missionaries returned to Mahia and held meetings with other descendants of Arama Toiroa. After seeing the sign, these people said, “This is indeed the church for us, for did not our revered forefather, Arama Toiroa, prophesy about it?”

    Largely as a result of this prophecy, every person in Korongata joined the Church, and a large number of Maoris in Mahia entered the waters of baptism.

    In 1845 a second prophet, Toaroa Pakahia, spoke words similar to those of Arama.4 And again in 1877. Apiata Kuikainga, an ancestor of Stuart Meha who was a faithful leader of the Church in New Zealand for many years, predicted that when the true church came, its ministers would teach salvation for the dead. In 1885, when this doctrine was preached to the Meha family by Elders George S. Taylor and Edward Newby, they all desired baptism.5 In 1881 Elder John Ferris wrote that Maoris had told him that “more than a year ago the king [Tawhiao] said a white man would come across the sea and preach to them the true gospel, and they affirm that they believe he [Ferris] is the man.”6 Elder Ferris wrote to the Deseret News in Salt Lake City that three Maori chiefs considered him to be the man spoken of by the king two years before. He had come from “a far country and would give them the good church.”7 The complete text of King Tawhiao’s prophecy was later quoted in the Improvement Era in 1932:

    “Our church is coming from the east—not a church paid with money. Its ministers go two by two; when they pray they raise their hands. They will not come to go among the Pakeha (Europeans) but will dine, live, talk, and sleep with you. The sign will be the writing of the names of males, females and children. … Those churches that have already come are nothing, but when these come that I speak about, do not disturb them—that will be your church!”8The Latter-day Saints interpreted the “sign of writing names” to be a reference to genealogical work and work for the dead. During 1885–86, 7 branches, having 537 souls, were raised up in the Waikato.

    After considerable debate and discussion, the chiefs decided to place the questions—specifically “Which of the churches is the church for the Maori race? Which of them should we join?”—before the most respected and wisest chief among them. This was Potangaroa, who, when asked the questions, answered with one word, “Taihoa,” which means “wait.” He retired to his own home and meditated, fasted, and prayed about the problem for three days. When he returned to the convention, he addressed his people, saying:

    The Pacific Church History Centre at Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand, is named for Matthew Cowley, a beloved Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who served as a missionary and mission president in New Zealand and then as president of the Pacific missions of the Church during his service as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

    “My friends, the church for the Maori people has not yet come among us. You will recognize it when it comes. Its missionaries will travel in pairs. They will come from the rising sun. They will visit with us in our homes. They will learn our language and teach us the gospel in our own tongue. When they pray they will raise their right hands.”9

     

    Pres William Bromley

    Potangaroa then asked Ranginui Kingi to write his words as he continued to answer the questions which had been put to him. He called the transcription of his words “A covenant for remembering the hidden words which were revealed by the Spirit of Jehovah to Paora Potangaroa.” We again quote from Elder Cowley, who translated the document: “First, this is the day of the fulness (1881).” Brother Cowley points out that later that year the fulness of the gospel was taken to the Maoris. Actually, President Bromley and his colleagues first visited a Maori village, Orakei, on March 6, 1881, ten days before the “covenant” was given to the Maoris at Te Ore Ore. “Second, the year 1882 would be the year of the ‘sealing’ (or the year they would learn the sealing ordinances). Third, the year 1883 will be the year of ‘the honoring’—of ‘great faith’—as it is written: ‘render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.’ (Rom. 13:7)” In that year the Maoris began to honor the true God by rendering their dues to him and entering The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the Ngatikahungunu tribe, especially, began to enter the Church in large numbers. The Te Ore Ore Branch was organized on December 16, 1883.

    The document concludes in these words:

    “This covenant is to be remembered by the generations which follow after us. And the fruits of that which is set forth above [in the covenants] are—we are the lost sheep of the House of Israel. [We will learn of] the scepter of Judah; of Shilo; of the king of peace; of the day of judgment; of the kingdom of heaven; of the sacred church with a large wall surrounding; of the increase of the race; of faith, love, peace, patience, judgment, unity. All this plan will be fulfilled by the people of Ngatikahungunu Tribe during the next forty years.

    “March 16, 1881 Ranginui Kingi”10

    Elder Cowley identified the “sacred church with a large wall surrounding” with the Salt Lake Temple. He also pointed out that the only Maoris to participate in all the ordinances of the gospel during the next 40 years (until 1921), including the temple rites, were members of the Ngatikahungunu tribe. Later many members of other tribes participated in all blessings of the gospel.11

    There is no question as to the authenticity of the prophecies of Potangaroa or of the document that Elder Cowley used. Potangaroa was well known in his time. In fact the Anglican hierarchy in New Zealand was aware of his activities as we have described them above, but concluded that he had not accomplished his ends.12

    Shortly after leaving New Zealand in 1884, Elder Alma Greenwood wrote about Potangaroa’s influence. “Many of the natives were led to investigate the new and somewhat strange religion, which had come in their midst. This, too, was in accordance with some predictions previously made by a Maori prophet: that in 1883, a new religion would come [at this time the restored gospel was unknown among the Maoris of the Wairarapa], and all other religions would be inferior to the new one. The prophecy and its literal fulfillment gave the gospel prestige and influence among that people.”13

    There were a number of other reasons for the Mormon-Maori connection. The Maori prophets identified some of the characteristics of the Mormon missionaries: In addition to traveling in pairs, eating, sleeping, and visiting with the Maoris in their homes, the elders also learned the Maori language so that they could understand the Maoris and their thinking. The elders willingly endured various privations and discomforts in order to remain among the Maori people. All this touched the Maoris with the sincerity of the new gospel messengers. Some elders sweated beside Maoris building chapels, schools, and halls, and almost all elders traveled through storms from time to time to reach isolated destinations. As Barker states it, “The habitual enthusiasm, friendliness, devotion and sincerity of most of the elders impressed the Maoris. Both Mormons and Maoris placed high premiums on hospitality and friendliness.”14

    But the foregoing were but surface reasons for the Mormon impact on the Maoris. Ian Barker captures the essence of the Mormon-Maori connection in these words:

    “Important features of Mormonism appeared to have deep roots in Maori tradition. Conversion to Mormonism did not involve a sharp break with the past that conversion to Christianity had. To the Maori, the adoption of Mormonism implied a restoration of traditional sacramentals in a modified form. Historical, social, mythological and religious similarities enabled the elders and the Maoris to establish bonds of sympathy and understanding, which in no small part contributed to Mormon successes.”15

    The whare at Te Ore Ore, where Paora Potongaroa told his people to “taihoa”—wait, because the true messengers of God had not yet come to their village

    Mormonism had a familiar ring to the Maoris. It must be remembered that by the time LDS doctrine was introduced to the Maoris, they were but one or two generations removed from their pre-Christian religion. Although most Maoris had given up the past, they still remembered many of their old traditions and practices. Even before Mormonism, the Maoris had turned to millennial faiths and various adjustment cults in an effort, generally a conscious one, to bridge the gap from the past to the present. Mormonism, too, emphasized the coming time of peace which would be ushered in by the Savior. Of great importance to the Maoris, as they discovered Mormonism and used it to make the adjustment to the pakeha world, was that the elders did not reject Maoritanga, Maori cultural traditions, in their entirety. The missionaries, too, believed that the Maoris were being brought again into a fold from which they had strayed, but from which they had not wandered too far.

    Before 1865 the typical Maori probably would not have made any connection between the Maori God Io and the Mormon God Jehovah. Before that date Io was a secret deity who was known only to a few high-ranking tohungas. Io was the one god, the creator, omniscient, omnipotent, and uncreated. Although non-Mormon scholars have doubted that the idea of a supreme god in Polynesia antedated Christianity, LDS missionaries and members have always believed and even expected that the Polynesians would have a remnant of the truth as they knew it. It did not surprise the LDS to hear that Io reigned supreme over many other gods who carried out various functions in heaven and on earth. Nor did the concept of the hereafter, wherein the dead were ushered through one of four doors, rather than through the Pearly Gates or into hell, surprise the Mormons. They had always believed that men would be sent to many mansions, some to glory but most to one or another degree of happiness in accordance with their works and disposition. The atua or lower gods were generally identified with elements of nature, but there was a latent belief in anthropomorphism within the Maori religion. While sectarians struggled to remove all vestiges of such belief, the Latter-day Saints not only condoned but strongly affirmed that God the Father and Jesus Christ were immortal men, who looked like men, even though they were gods. All this seemed to make more sense to many Maoris than did the doctrines of mainline Christianity.16

    A wooden panel carved by Taka Panere in 1969 hangs in the museum. It depicts the story of the Maori Saints, from their ancestors’ migration to New Zealand, through the prophecy of Paora Potangaroa and the arrival of the LDS missionaries, and culminating with a temple.

    The Maoris had intense interest in and love for their families. The Mormon concept of eternal families immediately appealed to many Maoris. They had long revered their dead, and when Christianity was brought to them, the Maoris feared for the pagan spirits of their ancestors. But unlike the orthodox missionaries, who could suggest no alternative to eternal burnings, the elders taught a message of hope and salvation.

    Not only did the Mormon missionaries teach about salvation for the dead, but they also taught the Maoris the doctrine of eternal increase. The resurrection was to be a literal physical rebirth. Men would be men and women would be women; and husbands and wives, if they had been faithful in living the gospel and keeping the commandments, were promised the blessing of eternally producing offspring similar to whom the eternal parents had created.

    Tuati Whaanga and Elder Rulon Craven with a carving representing Hagoth, made for the Kahungunu Marae in Nuhaka, c. 1949

    The Maori tohungas had sought and received revelations from God. They considered it their responsibility to be seers and lived so that they could carry out this function. The tohungas also performed healings and exorcised evil spirits. These functions were also performed by village elders and patriarchs after the introduction of Christianity. Continuous revelation, healing, and exorcism were generally discounted by the Protestant and Catholic missionaries as being superstitions from a bygone era, or as parts of the gospel that were no longer in vogue. The Mormon elders, however, taught the necessity of contemporary revelation as well as of all other gifts of the Spirit as taught in the New Testament. A main tenet of the restored gospel was that the priesthood had been given again to man. Maoris accepted this idea, and as has been illustrated several times before (and could be shown by numerous examples even by 1887), many miracles—mostly healings—were performed by the elders.

    Some Latter-day Saints suggested even before LDS missionary work was started among them that the Maoris were of the house of Israel. This may be explained by the fact that following the introduction of Christianity, the Maoris soon identified themselves with Judah. Then, as the competition for land became more intense between them and the pakehas, and particularly as the Maoris began to realize that they were coming out on the short end in most transactions, the persecutions of Judah became all the more real to them. When the Mormon elders began teaching about the history of the Church, it became evident that the Mormons, too, were a persecuted people. This helped to establish a bond between Mormons and Maoris—they understood each other.

    But there was much more to the idea that the Maoris were of Israel than merely shared persecutions. Far more important was the Mormon belief that the Maoris, like their Polynesian brothers and sisters elsewhere, were literally of Abraham through his posterity who immigrated to the American continent, as is told in the Book of Mormon. Since the days of George Q. Cannon in Hawaii (1851–54), the Church leaders had more and more frequently alluded to the idea that the Polynesians were descendants of Lehi, the early Book Of Mormon prophet. Although the relationship between the Polynesian peoples and the adventurer Hagoth (see Alma 63:5–8) is not clear—he being a Nephite and the Polynesians appearing to be Lamanites—Church leaders have time and time again referred to the Polynesians as children of Lehi. In the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 4, father Lehi blessed the offspring of his evil sons Laman and Lemuel and promised them that their posterity would one day have all the blessings promised to Abraham. The Latter-day Saints believe this refers specifically to the blessing of membership in the Lord’s church and of holding the priesthood. Latter-day Saint missionaries believed and taught that the Maoris were chosen sons and daughters of Abraham. The elders expected the Maoris to accept easily the restored gospel and to assume their rightful place as leaders in the Church. There was almost no racial prejudice on the part of the Mormons toward the Maoris.

    Although the first Maoris who were offered the priesthood were hesitant to accept it, it was not long before they assumed nearly all of the positions of leadership in the branches. Many Maoris were ordained to positions in the priesthood. In this way, the Mormon church became their own church. They led it, taught the members, blessed their own sick, and guided their own families through personal revelation.

    After reading the foregoing, one might ask why the Lord would go to so much trouble for the Maoris. Why were they warned of the coming of the restored Church? Why did they find it so easy to accept the Church when it came? These are not easy questions to answer, and this writer does not wish to speculate. The only explanation I have found that answers these questions with authority is in a letter from the First Presidency, (Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, and John Henry Smith), written to the Maori Saints on the occasion of their annual Hui Tau (conference) in 1911. In answer to the specific question as to why the Polynesians seemed to be more blessed and favored of the Lord than the Lamanites on the American continent, they answered:

    “The Lord … directed their course away from this continent [America] to their [the Polynesian ancestors’] island homes, that they might not be left to be preyed upon and destroyed by the more wicked part of the House of Israel whose descendants still roam upon this continent in a fallen and degraded state. … This is the secret of the overruling hand of providence which has been over you all from that time until you received the gospel through the preaching of the elders, and until the present time. …

    “And we repeat, the reason that few of the islands of the sea have been more highly favored and blessed in the Lord than those of your brethren of this continent is because of the worthiness of your forefathers who were led away and separated from their brethren of this continent, and because of the blessing of the Lord which has attended you, their children, from that time to the present.”17

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/1981/06/maori-traditions-and-the-mormon-church?lang=eng

    Other sources:

    https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-maori-latter-day-saint-historical-narrative-additions-and-amendments/

    New Zealand: LDS Chronology

    September 1853 • Australia Missionaries William Cooke and Burr Frost taught Francis and Emma Evans. Although baptized in Australia, they were the first known New Zealanders to join the Church.
    October 27, 1854 • Auckland, New Zealand Augustus Farnham and William Cooke became the first missionaries to visit New Zealand, accompanied by recent convert Thomas Holder.
    December 31, 1854 • Karori, New Zealand (near Wellington) Martha Holder of Karori, mother of Thomas Holder, became the first known convert baptized in New Zealand. April 1855 • Karori The Karori Branch became the first branch organized in New Zealand. May 31, 1868 • Kaiapoi, New Zealand (near Christchurch) The Kaiapoi Branch became the first branch organized on the South Island.
    1872 • Kaiapoi James Burnett became the first Latter-day Saint missionary to preach to the Māori people in New Zealand. He preached before a gathering of approximately 150 natives, some of whom responded favorably, but language and cultural barriers limited his success at that time.
    August–October 1878 • Papanui, New Zealand (near Christchurch) With the arrival of Thomas A. Shreeve, continuous missionary activity began with progress among Europeans. Working alone, Shreeve baptized more than 20 during his first three months in the Christchurch area.
    December 26, 1879 • Papanui Thomas A. Shreeve organized the first Relief Society in New Zealand for the Christchurch Branch, with Ann James as president.
    March 16, 1881 • Te Ore Ore, New Zealand (near Masterton) At a gathering of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe, a Māori prophet named Pāora Te Potangaroa predicted a church would one day come from the east and that its missionaries would learn the Māori language and pray with their hands raised. Similar prophecies had been made by other Māori holy men.
    October 18, 1881 • Auckland Ngataki from Ngaruawahia became the first Māori baptized in New Zealand.
    February 25, 1883 • Waotu, New Zealand The first Māori branch was organized, with Hare Te Katera as president.
    1889 • New Zealand The Book of Mormon was published in Māori.
    January 1, 1898 • Australia and New Zealand The Australasian Mission was discontinued and replaced by the Australian Mission and the New Zealand Mission. Church members in New Zealand numbered 4,000, 90 percent of whom were Māori.

    For the rest of the dates visit here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/global-histories/new-zealand/nz-chronology?lang=eng

    About Matthew Cowley

    Ngāti Kahungunu

    Ngāti Kahungunu is the third largest tribal group in New Zealand. Although it is generally referred to as an iwi (tribe), like a number of other iwi it is perhaps more correct to consider Ngāti Kahungunu a grouping of tribes and hapū (sub tribes), all of whom are descendants of Kahungunu.

    Carved storehouse doorwayThe three main tribal divisions are:

    • Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa (traditional northern boundary the Wharerata Ranges south of Poverty Bay)
    • Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga (traditional eastern boundary Hawke Bay)
    • Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa (traditional southern boundary the Remutaka Ranges in southern Wairarapa). Source:

    Handsome and hard-working, the influential leader Kahungunu supervised building, irrigation, carving and canoe-making. During his life he married nine women, and his courtship of the beautiful Rongomaiwahine at Māhia Peninsula is legendary. Kahungunu’s many descendants – the people of Ngāti Kahungunu – also formed strategic marriages, creating a network of alliances from Gisborne to the Wairarapa.

  • The Land of Joseph (America), the Gathering Place of Ephraim, Manasseh & Judah

    The Land of Joseph (America), the Gathering Place of Ephraim, Manasseh & Judah

    Questions Addressed in this Blog:

    1. Where are the Lost 10 Tribes? Are they really lost?
    2. What DNA do the following have: European Gentiles, Lost 10 Tribes, Mormon, Lehi, Nephi, Mulek, Lamanites, Nephites, Pilgrims and Puritans?
    3. The Mayflower landed and could the people have been some of the Lost 10 Tribes?
    4. Why are the two Tribes of Israel, Judah and Joseph, so blessed? Judah was the fourth son (Leah 1st wife) and Joseph was the eleventh son, (Rachel 4th wife)?
    5. Which 10 Tribes of Israel received a land inheritance in Canaan?
    6. Why did those two tribes not receive an inheritance in Canaan?
    7. What Land and where was Joseph of Egypt’s land inheritance?
    8. Could there be Nephite blood in Europe and other nations besides North America?
    9. Will America’s Constitution be saved in the last days?
    10. Why is the Gathering of Israel so important today?

    The Land of Joseph (America) Gathering Place of Ephraim, Manasseh & Judah

    “It was not by chance that the Puritans left their native land and sailed away to the shores of New England, and others later followed. They were the advance guard of the army of the Lord, predestined to establish the God-given system of government under which we live and to make America, which is the land of Joseph, the gathering place of Ephraim, an asylum for the oppressed of all nations, and prepare the way for the restoration of the gospel of Christ and the establishment of his church upon the earth” – Heber J. Grant, Conference Report, April 1930.

    “I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi”.  3 Mormon 5:20.

    So Mormon was a literal descendant of Lehi, who was a literal descendant of Manasseh. Nephi married one of the daughters of Ishmael who was from Ephraim. Zedikiah and Mulek were literal descendants of Judah. The Nephites, Lamanites and Mulekites were a mixed race near Zarahemla, and at the final destruction at Cumorah. All reunited in the Land of Joseph in 1620 AD at Plymouth Rock. What an amazing time. This in essence was the beginning of the Gathering of the Lost 10 tribes of Israel. Read more at the heading below titled, Tribes of Israel Migrate from Jerusalem to North America.

    Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite

    “It is the house of Israel we are after, and we care not whether they come from the east, the west, the north, or the south; from China, Russia, England, California, North or South America, or some other locality. … The Book of Mormon came to Ephraim, for Joseph Smith was a pure Ephraimite, and the Book of Mormon was revealed to him.” (Brigham Young Journal of Discourses 2:268–69.)

    “In this Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, the gospel came first to the Gentiles and then is to go to the Jews. However, the Gentiles who receive the gospel are, in the greater part, Gentiles who have the blood of Israel in their veins. There is a very significant statement in the words of Moroni as recorded on the title page of the Book of Mormon that it was ” … ‘To come forth … by way of the Gentile. …’ Joseph Fielding Smith

    So many immigrants from Europe are as Elder Smith said above, “Gentiles who have the blood of Israel in their veins.”

    “Mormon prophet Joseph Smith Jr., was definitely descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish chieftain of the fifth century, Ugo Perego, a senior DNA researcher at Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation has discovered… Perego identified a part of Joseph Smith’s DNA that had a very rare marker called M222. With this “higher resolution” he found that the same marker was found in Northwest Ireland — with a little bit in Lowland Scotland.” Source

    “Speaking about Lehi’s people, “Joseph wrote, “They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph.” It is possible that Joseph Smith was referring to Zoram after all, clarifying he was not a Jew. He may have been referring to those who accompanied the Mulekites (presumably Phoenicians). But it is also possible that he was referring to others who accompanied Lehi… To summarize: I think Lehi brought servants and landed in a mostly uninhabited area in Florida, among a small population of hunter/gatherers who lacked a well-organized society.” Jonathan Neville Moroni’s America page 84-86

    Lehi= Manasseh; Ishmael= Ephraim; Mulek= Judah;

    “Whoever has read the Book of Mormon carefully will have learned that the remnants of the house of Joseph dwelt upon the American continent; and that Lehi learned by searching the records of his fathers that were written upon the plates of brass, that he was of the lineage of Manasseh. The Prophet Joseph informed us that the record of Lehi, was contained on the 116 pages that were first translated and subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgement is given us in the first Book of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis, which says: “And let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the land.” Thus these descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim grew together upon this American continent, with a sprinkling from the house of Judah, from Mulek descended, who left Jerusalem eleven years after Lehi, and founded the colony afterwards known as Zarahemla and found by Mosiah—thus making a combination, an intermixture of Ephraim and Manasseh with the remnants of Judah; and for aught we know, the remnants of some other tribes that might have accompanied Mulek…Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis.” (Erastus Snow, JD 23:184) Also see page 9 of the Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Purchase Here

    America is the Land of the Book of Mormon

    “What if the setting for the Book of Mormon was anciently located in the lands that we know as New York? . . . Might this location serve as a starting point to begin a search for the geography of the Book of Mormon? The more I studied and researched upon the matter, the more I became convinced that indeed the Book of Mormon itself contained sufficient clues that could resolve the issue of the geography of the Book of Mormon. The Lord showed Nephi that “many multitudes of Gentiles” would come “upon the land of promise.” (1 Nephi 13:14-16). What other people could this refer to, other than those Gentiles, pilgrims, who had come to occupy eastern United States and Canada in colonial times?” 1998 Duane R. Aston Return to Cumorah: Piecing Together the Puzzle Where the Nephites Lived, Sacramento: American River Publications [pp. 2-3]

    “Nephi saw in vision also the coming of the Pilgrims, who came to escape religious persecution. He foresaw the coming to America of peoples from many nations, their wars and contentions. As Nephi said, they did humble themselves before the Lord. Thus the American colonies attained their independence and set up the government of the United States, all under the divine intervention of God in preparing this land for its divine destiny. We believe that both freedom and the continuing reformation that flourished here occurred in preparation for the restoration from heaven of the full gospel of Jesus Christ. That restoration began in the United States of America in the 1820s, through the [assistance] of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was chosen by the Lord and who, through [visits] from heavenly messengers, received … records that contained the authentic record of early American peoples and God’s dealings with them. He received the priesthood and authority to reestablish the church of Jesus Christ in these latter days. At the time of this restoration, God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ actually appeared to Joseph Smith, as they had appeared to leaders of previous dispensations. They announced to him that Christ’s church would be reestablished upon the earth. … This restoration was the greatest event in the history of mankind since the birth, death, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” A Choice Land President N. Eldon Tanner, First Counselor in the First Presidency

    America will not be Destroyed!

    “When this nation was established, the Church was restored and from here the message of the restored gospel has gone forth-all according to divine plan. This then becomes the Lord’s base of operations in these latter days. And this base-the land of America—will not be shifted out of its place. This nation will, in a measure at least, fulfill its mission even though it may face serious and troublesome days. The degree to which it achieves its full mission depends upon the righteousness of its people. God, through His power, has established a free people in this land as a means of helping to carry forward His purposes. It was His latter-day purpose to bring forth His gospel in America, not in any other place. It was in America where the Book of Mormon plates were deposited. That was no accident. It was His design. It was in this same America where they were brought to light by angelic ministry. It was here where He organized His modern Church, where He, Himself, made a modern personal appearance. It was here under a free government and a strong nation that protection was provided for His restored Church.

    Now God will not permit America, His base of operations, to be destroyed. He has promised protection to this land if we will but serve the God of the land. He has also promised protection to the righteous even, if necessary, to send fire from heaven to destroy their enemies. No, God’s base of operations will not be destroyed.” Ezra Taft Benson, This Nation Shall Endure Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson; “I Testify”, General Conference, October 1988

    Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, “The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.” It will be so. (JD 7:15; quoted by Brigham Young)

    John Witherspoon 1776

    “It is proper here to observe, that at the time of the reformation, when religion began to revive, nothing contributed more to facilitate its reception and increase its progress than the violence of its persecutors... There is not a greater evidence either of the reality or the power of religion, than a firm belief of God’s universal presence, and a constant attention to the influence and operation of his providence. It is by this means that the Christian may be said, in the emphatical scripture language, “to walk with God, and to endure as seeing him who is invisible.” John Witherspoon 1776 “Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men (Sermon)”

    John Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution. In 1789 he was convening moderator of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.

    This quote above lets us know that evil persecutors facilitate reformation. Today’s Deep State world wide governments are not sustaining our moral character. We are rallying as Christians all over the world. We reject tyranny. In the midst of all this government turmoil, illegal immigration, riots, child trafficking, mandating unconstitutional laws, reducing free speech, tampering with our voting system, our mission as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not changed. We must serve the Lord our God with all our heart. Christ’s mission hasn’t changed which says, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Moses 1:39

    Glenn’s PLEA for America, 10 years in the making
    Renewing the Covenant Part 1

    We make a covenant with the Lord to obey His commandments and in return we receive Freedom, Protection, a Posterity, and a blessed country called the United States of America. The Book of Mormon Covenant Land is the United States of America Read Rod Meldrum’s The Scriptural Basis for Book of Mormon Geography

    John Howland’s Life

    “President [Russell M.] Ballard said he sees the hand of the Lord in John Howland’s life. He recalled viewing  earlier this year John Howland’s headstone in Plymouth.

    John Howland’s headstone memorializes him as a “godly man” and “ancient professor in the ways of Christ.”

    But President Ballard saw something much greater in the life of John Howland. It is something we can all see in our own lives as well.

    “Brothers and sisters, please look for the Lord’s hand in your lives and in the lives of your family, as I do in the lives of my ancestors and family,” said President Ballard. “Expect it. Do not dismiss it.” Source Here

    Elder Ballard Continues:

    “A Pilgrim named John Howland, who landed at Plymouth Rock as a young unmarried man. His story is fascinating and it affects every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord is definitely involved in our lives, each and every one of us individually. What a blessing.

    During that historic voyage, the crew and passengers of the Mayflower encountered many turbulent storms, which kept the passengers below deck. In the middle of one storm, John emerged and was swept overboard.

    William Bradford, also a passenger on the Mayflower, reported:

    “In these storms the winds were so fierce and the seas so high the Pilgrims were forced to remain below deck. And one of them John Howland came above and, with a roll of the ship, he was thrown into the sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold of a rope that was trailing in the water and held on though he was several fathoms under water till he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim of the water, and then with a boat-hook and other means got him into the ship again and his life was saved; and though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after, and became a profitable member both in church and commonwealth… “Later, a leader of one of the villages arrived in the struggling settlement to help the Pilgrims. They formed an alliance, and during the second fall after their arrival in the New World, 52 colonists and some 90 natives celebrated Plymouth’s first successful harvest — the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth.

    “At the time, John Howland was not as famous as fellow passengers William Bradford, John Carver and Myles Standish. However, standing where we now stand, with nearly 400 years between us and these courageous Pilgrims, he may have had a greater impact on the history of the United States than any of them.”

    President Ballard explained that four years after arriving in the New World, John married fellow Mayflower passenger Elizabeth Tilley. From that union came 10 children and nearly 90 grandchildren.

    Today, an estimated 5 million Americans trace their roots to John and Elizabeth, according to President Ballard.

    Their descendants include three U.S. presidents… American poets Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; and two influential 19th-century American religious leaders — the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum Smith, explained President Ballard.” President Ballard pleads with Latter-day Saints to ‘pray for this country’ as United States is at ‘another crossroad’ By Sarah Jane Weaver 21 Oct 2019, 

    A Personal Thanksgiving Story

    I realized a few years ago, that John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley are my 10th great grand parents through their oldest daughter Desire. That is unbelievable. I am so humbled to know who my ancestors are. This gives me a greater desire in this life to share the gospel with others. I was led to this information from a good friend named Vicki Darais who has a mother with the name Nelson. She gave me the information and I had my Sister Lori Nelson Merritt look up our genealogy. It is amazing what she found. What is interesting is that I am the 10th great grand son of John Howland through my Tueller and Dustin line, not through my Nelson line.

    On Aug. 16, 2021 I was in the home of my dear friend Allen C. Christensen of American Fork, Utah. He was the author of “Joseph’s Remnant, Lamanites of the Latter Days” Purchase here. I was visiting with my good friend Paul Whippy from Fiji an Area Authority Seventy who I baptized 46 years ago. Paul had worked with Allen in Fiji on finding the first Temple site for the saints of Fiji, and I was reacquainting them. Allen had spent that week studying Paul Whippy’s Family History and Allen discovered that Paul Whippy’s father David Whippy was from Massachusetts and was a descendant of John Howland from his oldest daughter Desire, just as I was. Amazing. Even more incredible was that Allen Christensen found out he was also a direct descendant of John Howland’s second daughter Hope, who Emma Smith was also a direct relative of. We also know that the Prophet Joseph Smith was a direct descendant of John Howland’s oldest son named John Howland. What a beautiful reunion Paul and Allen and I had, knowing we are all direct descendants. What a beautiful world this is.

    Elizabeth Tilley came on the Mayflower at age 7 with her parents John Tilley and Joan Hurst. John and Joan Tilley died shortly after arriving in America. Elizabeth was the only one of their 5 children to come with them on the Mayflower. At age 16 Elizabeth Tilley married John Howland who had been saved at sea. Their first daughter Desire Howland (1625-1683) married Captain John Gorham Sr. (1619-1676) who was later killed during King Philip’s War, which was also the First Indian War. They are my 9th great grand parents. This is a personal Thanksgiving day blessing.  

    Tribes of Israel Migrate from Jerusalem to North America (Joseph & Judah)

    Think about this. Near Jerusalem around 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel.(Lost 10 Tribes scattered most likely north into Europe and beyond?), and in about 567 B.C., the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem (Judah and Benjamin) and destroyed the first temple, which was replaced by a second temple. The Second Temple, later known as Herod’s Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between c. 516 BC and 70 AD. It is very likely the Northern Tribes of Israel that were driven north by the Assyrians in about 722 BC, (1 Chronicles 5:26), are many of the Europeans that existed at the time of the Mayflower. The Southern Tribes of Israel, (Judah and Benjamin mostly) were driven and scattered in about 567 BC by the Babylonians. Remember the Tribe of Manasseh (Lehi) and the Tribe of Ephraim, (Ishmael) were sent to the Promised land of North America (near Tallahassee, Florida) in about 600-589 BC, according to the Book of Mormon. Many of the Tribe of Judah (Mulek of Zedikiah) were sent to the Promised land of North America in about 586 BC. Together these Tribes of Israel were brought together in the Land of Joseph (USA) where they were all joined together near Zarahemla (Montrose, Iowa about 200-300 BC), when Mosiah left the Land of Nephi (Tennessee area) and met the Mulekites in Zarahemla). So in the Heartland of North America the Nephites, Lamanites and Mulekites joined, as the Tribe of Joseph and the Tribe of Judah in the United States.

    Hastening His Work to Gather Israel

    It is my opinion that the coming together of the Puritans and the Wampanoag Native Americans in 1620 was a pivotal point in the last days. Our living Prophet says, “These surely are the latter days, and the Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it.” —President Russell M. Nelson, “Hope of Israel,” Worldwide Youth Devotional, 3 June 2018.

    Who were the Pilgrims & Puritans, (Some of the Lost 10 Tribes), the Wampanoag’s (Natives first met by Pilgrims) and the Abenaki’s (Samoset)?  I believe the Puritans were made up of many of the Lot 10 Tribes of Israel, and the Wampanoag and Abenaki, (Algonquian) were many of the remaining Lamanites who were of mixed race (Lamanites, Nephites, and Mulekites), after the final battle at Cumorah in upstate New York. In essence they reunited of the Tribe of Joseph and the Tribe of Judah in North America as spoken of in Ezekiel 37. (Stick of Joseph and Stick of Judah)

    Land of Joseph is North America

    “The Book of Mormon tells us that America is a land of promise, a land choice above all other lands. Nephi said that whosoever should possess it must serve the God of the land or they would be swept off. And we have read in the Book of Mormon of the nations that have been swept off because they ceased to worship the God who had led them and their forefathers here to this land. We have a great responsibility as citizens in this land, for the Lord said that he would fight its battles and be its king, if we will just serve him. So it’s appropriate at this time that we express our appreciation for this great land. I like the words Moses used when he gave a blessing to the twelve tribes of Israel. When he blessed Joseph, he promised him a new land in the utmost bowels of the everlasting hills (see Deut. 33:15).

    Now that isn’t in Jerusalem because they don’t have everlasting hills over there, and the prophets have never predicted a regathering of all nations to the land of Israel. But they have predicted the gathering of Israel to this land of America, which is the land of Joseph. And we are the only people in the world who know what that land is that Moses promised to Joseph. It was so great in his eyes as he received the revelations of the Holy Spirit that in describing the land, he used the word “precious” five times in just four verses…We have so much to be grateful for. We are not here by chance. We are here because of the sacrifices of our pioneer fathers who came to this choice land that the Lord, according to the Book of Mormon, had hidden away from the eyes of the world that it should not be overrun. [Remember the original place Adam was placed was in Missouri, which is the original New World]. He preserved it for us, for the day and time in which we now live here in these valleys of the mountains.” Thanksgiving, LEGRAND RICHARDS of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Nov. 18, 1980 

    In Elder McConkie’s book “Mormon Doctrine”, he states: “One of the greatest spiritual gatherings of all the ages took place in the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman [Missouri North America] some 5,000 years ago.… At that great gathering Adam offered sacrifices on an altar built for that purpose. A remnant of that very altar remained on the spot down through the ages. On May 19, 1838, Joseph Smith and a number of his associates stood on the remainder of the pile of stones at a place called Spring Hill, Daviess County, Missouri. There the Prophet taught them that Adam again would visit the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, holding a great council as a prelude to the great and dreadful day of the Lord…”

    The World has Gathered From Asher to Zebulon

    Sister Wendy Nelson said, “One of my favorite places is Moscow, Russia. Why? Because of what I experienced there within one 24-hour period of time, which commenced on Saturday, June 15, 2013. While my husband taught the priesthood leaders of the area, I had the privilege of being with some of the sisters. I love our Russian sisters. They are spectacular! That Saturday happened to be one of those rare spring planting days in Russia, so less than 100 of us gathered. When I went to the pulpit, I found myself saying something I’d never anticipated: “I’d like to get to know you by lineage. Please stand as the name of the tribe of Israel, as declared in your patriarchal blessing, is spoken.” These women knew each other, but they didn’t know each other’s lineage. As the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were announced, from Asher to Zebulon, and as the women stood, we were all thrilled with what we were feeling, witnessing, and being taught. We were being taught about the reality of the days in which we now live! Question: How many of the twelve tribes of Israel do you think were represented in that small gathering of less than 100 women on that Saturday in Moscow? Eleven! Eleven of the twelve tribes! All but the tribe of Levi! Now here’s another question: How fast does news travel where you live? Pretty fast? Well, it certainly travels quickly in Eastern Europe. I went directly from that unforgettable gathering to the airport to meet my husband. We then flew to Armenia, where he was to create the first stake of Zion in that country the next day. The first people we met as we got off the plane were the mission president and his wife. And the first thing she said to me was, “I’ve got Levi!” Just imagine—one of their missionaries, from Gilbert, Arizona, no less, was of the tribe of Levi! This address was given Thursday, April 30, 2015 at the BYU Women’s Conference 

    The Land of Joseph is the United States of America, and the Gathering  Place again of Ephraim, Manasseh & Judah! We are to gather Israel in these last days.

  • X2a mtDNA – Ojibwe Origins in North America

    X2a mtDNA – Ojibwe Origins in North America

    WINDOVER ARCHAEOLOGY SITE BREVARD COUNTY, FL THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST INTACT CEMETERIES OF 6,000 B.C. THAT HAD EVER BEEN DISCOVERED.

    HAPLOGROUP X is found in approximately 7% of native Europeans, and 3% of all Native Americans from North America. Overall, haplogroup X is found in around 2% of the population of Europe, the Near East and North Africa. It is especially common among Egyptians inhabiting El-Hayez Oasis. (14.3%) References at Wikipedia

    RADIOCARBON DATING over the three seasons of excavation indicated ages ranging from 6,990 years to 8,120 years, plus or minus 70 years.

    What is the Controversy Surrounding DNA and the Book of Mormon? By Rod Meldrum

    “If The Book of Mormon is true (and I believe it is) then it is a literal historical record of real people in addition to its primary purpose of testifying of Jesus Christ.  Lehi and his family, who came from the Holy Land area, where descendants of Joseph that was sold into Egypt. (1 Nephi 5:14).  The three primary races of the earth, Asian (Oriental), African (Black) and European (Caucasian) are quite easily distinguished from each other through specific DNA markers or ‘signatures’ that delineate their ancestry. The Book of Mormon tells us that the descendants of Lehi, (including his wife Sariah, Ishmael and his wife, and Zoram) lived and multiplied to a great extent somewhere in the America’s. Since it is highly probable that Sariah, Ishmael, and Zoram were also of the same genetic stock (not Asian or African), their genetic signatures today would most certainly be classified by present day geneticists as ‘European’ rather than Asian or African. We do not know the exact makeup of Lehi’s DNA, but that does not preclude us from being able to make a direct connection to his ‘European/Caucasian’ heritage.

    Preliminary DNA studies, performed on thousands of individual Native Americans from the Aleuts in Alaska, through North, Central, and South America, were completed.  They were tested, studied and classified into one of 4 primary genetic groups called haplogroups.

    These four founding groups, designated Haplogroups A, B, C and D are all Asian-based groups found in modern populations of Siberia and Asia today, which supports the dominant theory of the peopling of the New World (the America’s) by an overland migration across the Bering Strait during an ice age epoch. Initial studies indicated that there were no European type genetic DNA markers, which would lead to the conclusion that no migration or population expansion of an ‘Israelite’ group occurred anywhere in the America’s as is indicated by the Book of Mormon. This led to some LDS scientists viewing this as the ‘final straw’ for their belief and some were subsequently excommunicated from the church after writing books contrary to the teachings and doctrine of the gospel, but based on these initial scientific findings.

    DNA vs The Book of Mormon is created

    A small ‘Christian ministry’ capitalized on this small group of LDS scholars and scientists who left or were excommunicated from the church and documented their feelings and findings, producing a very powerful anti-Mormon video documentary (Picture left). This DVD has sold tens of thousands of copies since its introduction in early 2003. The revenue produced by this documentary has funded other ‘anti-Mormon’ videos.  While the producers of these videos have offered them on their websites for free, they continue to sell thousands of the ‘hard’ copies. Who are buying these, as they are available for free, and why? The answer is that other Christian denominations are buying these up by the pallet load for free distribution in the neighborhood after neighborhood. Entire cities have been ‘blanketed’ by different Christian groups in an effort to thwart the evangelical efforts of the LDS Church. Cities from Springville, Utah to Gilbert, Arizona, and hundreds of cities in the ‘Bible belt’ have come under this siege.

    Why is this being done?

    Because for the first time other Christian denominations have something for which we, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have provided no conclusive answers, although the subject has been addressed by numerous articles from LDS apologetic organizations. The simple fact is that no DNA findings support the dominant theory of the geography of the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica.  Since there is no DNA evidence supporting the claims of the Book of Mormon in Central America, those who believe in this geography must explain why there is no evidence of European lineages there.  While some have addressed the issue (including FAIRMormon, Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, and Book of Mormon Central) with well-reasoned research that is certainly plausible, their explanations fall short of providing a solid answer that both addresses the DNA issues and validates the claims of The Book of Mormon.

    The explanations fall into one of three primary categories.

    1. We don’t have DNA samples from any of Lehi’s party, so we don’t even know what types of DNA we are looking to find.
    2. Lehi’s group was small and as they intermingled with the existing Asian populations, their DNA was diluted to the point that it is no longer traceable.
    3. It is possible that a ‘genetic bottleneck’ occurred that extinguished the DNA markers found in the original Book of Mormon peoples.

      These explanations are used to excuse the lack of DNA evidence in Central or Mesoamerica, in order to defend these geographical theories. This has lead LDS apologetic groups to claim that DNA research and findings cannot be used either to falsify the claims of the Book of Mormon, nor to provide evidence in it’s support.  As a classic example of this argument read the Deseret News/Mormon Times article by Roger L. Hardy, and Daniel Petersen, a very vocal LDS apologist who is also a strong advocate of the Mesoamerican hypothesis.  He mentions all three while promoting a new book on DNA which is actually mostly a collection of previously published articles, some of which are quite old in terms of the current DNA research field they are addressing.  While each of these explanations have merit and are justifiably employed in defense of the Book of Mormon’s claims, there is another aspect that must be addressed. No less than seven times in the scriptures there are specific claims that in the latter days, there would remain on the Promised Land a “remnant” of the “House of Israel” or Lehi’s posterity which came through the lineage of Joseph of Egypt and his son Manasseh. Some LDS apologists have claimed that they ‘don’t expect to find” any DNA evidence in favor of the Book of Mormon.  Why would any member of the church not expect to find evidence of the Book of Mormon’s claim that there will be a ‘remnant seed’ still in existence in the latter days?  How can there be a ‘remnant’ if there is no actual genetic (DNA) connection to this lineage?  This is the reason that I did not feel comfortable with the answers being provided by the LDS apologetic community, which created the desire for me to begin this research in 2003 and continue it today in 2021.  Since the Book of Mormon is true (as previously admitted to as my bias) it stands to reason that it’s claims that Lehi’s seed would not be utterly destroyed must indicate that their genetics would still be found in order to fulfill the promises made by the Lord.  If there is no genetic remnant, how can there be a differentiation between those who are actual descendants, and those who are Gentiles who are ‘grafted into’ the House of Israel?  Why then would the Lord make that distinction?

    What is the Problem with those who say there is no DNA Evidence?

    The problem is twofold. The anti-Mormon documentary producers were premature in their conclusions regarding DNA studies in the America’s as the research was not yet complete at the time of the release of their video. The second problem is that in order for DNA to be found relating to Book of Mormon people, we must be sure that we are looking for it in the correct location.  What chance is there of finding supportive DNA or any other physical evidence for the truth of The Book of Mormon if we are looking for it in the wrong place?

    Here is something also very prophetic:

    When the Winter Olympic games were held in Salt Lake City in 2002, President Gordon B. Hinckley was asked by a reporter if he had a comment about the lack of DNA evidence for the Book of Mormon. He simply responded that all the information wasn’t in yet. Eleven years later, in 2013, National Geographic Magazine published an article titled: “Great Surprise”—Native Americans Have West Eurasian Origins.” The article presents data on a genome found that is related to present-day western Eurasian populations and modern Native Americans, not from East Asia—historically a puzzling finding. (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131120-science-native-american-people-migration-siberia-genetics/) In the article, ancient DNA researcher Eske Willerslev, of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. stated: “This [DNA] study changes this idea because it shows that a significant minority of Native American ancestry actually derives not from East Asia but from a people related to present-day western Eurasians.” Willerslev also said: “It’s approximately one-third of the genome, and that is a lot,” he added. “So in that regard I think it’s changing quite a bit of the history” – Published November 22, 2013.

    READ “Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA“

    This short version article is here and the long version may be downloaded here, titled “Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA” by Rod Meldrum effectively and powerfully addresses, and provides supporting evidence that answers both of these fundamental questions above.  In addition, it goes back to the very foundations of the geographical theories to bring to light the knowledge that Joseph Smith had on the subject as well as an in-depth study of the internal geographic indications from The Book of Mormon itself.  All of this information has now, for the first time, been combined to produce a clear geographical picture that is exciting because of its solid foundation of evidence that supports the validity and truthfulness of this literal ancient record. You are invited to explore the information from this article for yourself and ask the source of all truth of its validity.” Rodney Meldrum Pres. FIRM Foundation

    Pierce Mounds Apalachicola, Florida near where we believe Lehi landed.

    Mounds at Turtle Harbor from Turtle Harbor Mounds on Vimeo.

    Face of a Nephite

    https://bookofmormonevidence.org/bookstore/product/face-of-a-nephite-new-book-by-david-read-jd-19-95/ Here is another excellent article by our friend Dr. David Read: https://www.bofm.blog/face-of-a-nephite/ Also Purchase Dr. Read’s book titled “Face of a Nephite” below:

    X2a mtDNA – Ojibwe Origins in North America

    Researching the ancient origins of Haplogroup X2a, maternal DNA

    X2 mtDNA Distribution : Canada and the Galilee

    Maps showing the Distribution and concentrated areas of X2a mtDNA (Maternal DNA Haplogroup) in the Ojibwe of North American and the Galilean Druze in present day Israel : Centered in and around Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in Canada, and the area between Mt Carmel and the Sea of Galilee in Israel.

    Ojibwe (X2a mtDNA) : are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the second-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree. In the United States, they had the fourth-largest population among Native American tribes, surpassed only by Navajo, Cherokee and the Lakota. Because many Ojibwe were historically formerly located mainly around the outlet of Lake Superior, which the French colonists called Sault Ste. Marie, they referred to the Ojibwe as Saulteurs. Ojibwe who subsequently moved to the prairie provinces of Canada have retained the name Saulteaux. Ojibwe who were originally located about the Mississagi River and made their way to southern Ontario are known as the Mississaugas.

    The Ojibwe peoples are a major component group of the Anishinaabe-speaking peoples, a branch of the Algonquian language family which includes the Algonquin, Nipissing, Oji-Cree, Odawa and the Potawatomi. The Ojibwe peoples number over 56,440 in the U.S., living in an area stretching across the northern tier from Michigan west to Montana. Another 77,940 of main-line Ojibwe; 76,760 Saulteaux and 8,770 Mississaugas, in 125 bands, live in Canada, stretching from western Quebec to eastern British Columbia.[citation needed] They are historically known for their crafting of birch bark canoes, sacred birch bark scrolls, use of cowrie shells for trading, cultivation of wild rice, and use of copper arrow points. In 1745 they adopted guns from the British to use to defeat and push the Dakota nation of the Sioux to the south.

    Galilean Druze (X2a mtDNA): are centered in the following areas of Northern Israel. (Population figures and percentage of overall population):

    The Galilee Daliyat al-Karmel (15,000 – 96.9%) Yirka (14,750 – 98.9%) Maghar (11,600 – 57.8%) Beit Jann (10,600 – 99.8%) Isfiya (8,500 – 80%) Kisra-Sumei (7,000 – 94.5%) Julis (5,700 – 100%) Yanuh-Jat (5,300 – 100%) Hurfeish (5,250 – 95.8%) Shefa-‘Amr (5,150 – 14.1%) Peki’in (4,150 – 76.5%) Sajur (3,700 – 100%) Abu Sinan (3,450 – 27.6%) Rameh (2,200 – 30.4%)

    In the Golan Heights: Majdal Shams (9,700 – 99.9%) Buq’ata (5,900 – 99.8%) Mas’ade (3,100 – 99.9%) Ein Qiniyye (1,735 – 98.9%)

    The Druze revere the father-in-law of Moses, Jethro. According to the biblical narrative, Jethro joined and assisted the Israelites in the desert during the Exodus, accepted monotheism, but ultimately rejoined his own people. The tomb of Jethro near Tiberias is the most important religious site for the Druze community. The Druze conception of the deity is declared by them to be one of strict and uncompromising Unity. The main Druze doctrine states that God is both transcendent and immanent, in which he is above all attributes but at the same time he is present in all things. In God, there are no attributes distinct from his essence. He is wise, mighty, and just, not by wisdom, might and justice, but by his own essence. God is “the whole of existence”, rather than “above existence” or on his throne, which would make him “limited.” There is neither “how”, “when”, nor “where” about him; he is incomprehensible.

    Druze citizens are prominent in the Israel Defense Forces and in politics. The bond between Jewish and Druze soldiers is commonly known by the term “a covenant of blood”

    Galilean Druze X2 mtDNA

    Lineage analysis within the mtDNA X-haplogroup of the Galilee Region is particularly enlightening. It should be noted that the estimated coalescence times for the major mtDNA X subhaplogroups X1 and X2 are 42,900±18,100 and 17,900±2,900 respectively. It is striking that those different lineages (from the same parental haplogroup) whose genetic divergence date back more than ten thousand years would remain so concentrated within such a small geographic region. Mutation rates for the mtDNA coding region, are not consistent with the possibility that this number of different coding region defined lineages within haplogroup X could have resulted from the recent expansion of a monophyletic clade within the past 1000 years.

    Rather this combination among the Druze, of a large number of lineages, together with a high frequency of the haplogroup in which these lineages are found, suggests descent from an ancestral population, in which the X haplogroup was more abundant than it is in the contemporary Near East, and which reflects the prevailing Near East genetic landscape at that time, antedating the establishment of the Druze religion in 1017 A.C.E. This supports the notion that the Druze represent a refugium of the population genetic structure from the time period prior to the “Dawa”, and also confirms the hypothesis of high endogamy among the Druze. The refugium hypothesis based on mtDNA haplogroup X analysis was corroborated by the finding of high diversity for the Druze mtDNA haplogroups H and K, with the added finding of novel lineages not shared with nearby populations.

    Furthermore, the formal rejection of the alternate hypothesis relating to immigration to the region of individuals sharing the same mtDNA haplogroup but with lineages that diverged in antiquity, further strengthens the Druze refugium model. Although, we cannot exclude the possibility that some ratio between non-random migration and colonization did occur during and following the “Dawa” period and generated the differences in haplogroup frequencies among the current Druze subregions, and between the Druze and other populations, this explanation is highly unlikely in face of the demographic modeling results.

    The overall low migration rate between the Druze and all other nearby populations cannot explain the high diversity and high frequency of X haplogroup lineages in the Galilee region. Low migration rates were also evident between the Galilee Druze and Druze from other subregions. The finding of the enrichment of the NRY haplogroup K among the Galilee Druze with no detection in samples from other subregions, further supports the relative isolation of this region, even among the Druze. Taken together these findings support the hypothesis that the Galilee Druze are a further more isolated subpopulation of the Druze, who in turn represents a refugium of the population genetic architecture of the Near East in antiquity.

    Demographic modeling can also provide estimates of divergence times for populations with shared ancestries. The demographic modeling in the current study indicates most recent divergence of the Druze from an ancestral population shared with Egyptians, Ashkenazi Jews, Adygeis and Greeks. The Egyptian shared ancestry is also consistent with Druze oral tradition. The migration rates of the Druze with these populations are exceedingly low, and this can be attributed to endogamy and geographic isolation following divergence.

    It should be kept in mind however, that the computational algorithms used for the demographic modeling are designed for models involving an ancestral population which split and maintained constant migration rate among the two daughter populations. Such a simplified model does not take into account the effect of shared party migration, and therefore would tend to overestimate the migration rate, and underestimate the divergence time. Therefore the Druze would seem to have an even greater degree of genetic isolation, than indicated by these results of the demographic modeling.

    The historical events and time frame for the loss or dilution of haplogroup X individuals is consistent with the population upheavals and patterns of migration that have characterized the Near East during the past two millennia at least. The preservation of this refugium of mtDNA lineage diversity among the Druze, mainly due to genetic isolation may be the result of their location in relatively more defensible mountainous regions, and the practice of conciliation with governing authorities and dissimulation called the “Taqiyya”, or due to other factors which facilitated preservation of societal integrity during periods of demographic and political change in the region.

    Conclusions : The findings suggest that the Near East maternal genetic landscape differed substantially in the past from its current structure, and was enriched in diverse lineages of the mtDNA X haplogroup. These findings have been uncovered due to the unique demographic features of the Druze population, and the adjusted sampling method employed in the current study. The combination of a high frequency and diversity of the Druze mtDNA haplogroup X lineages, in a confined geographic region, and the low migration rate with nearby populations make it unlikely that this diversity was imported.

    It is thus likely that the global diversity of this haplogroup evolved in the Near East and adjacent regions of western Eurasia, during a long incubation period coinciding with and following the most recent out of Africa expansion as dated by mtDNA coalescence simulations[44]. The Druze population of the Galilee represents a contemporary refugium of this past genetic landscape.

    Cherokee, Ojibwe and the Phoenicians ? X2A mtDNA

    The absence of Haplogroup X in Mongolia and Siberia and a recently proven center of diffusion in Israel (Brown et al. 1998, Malhi and Smith 2002; Smith et al. 1999; Reidla 2003; Shlush et al. 2009) pose problems for the standard account of the peopling of the Americas. DNA Consultants Cherokee-descended customers include seven instances of haplogroup X. David E. Lewis (whose Cherokee name is Wayauwetsi) traces his unmatched X haplotype back to Seyinus, a Cherokee woman of the Wolf Clan born on or near the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina in 1862. Two cases represent descendants (unknown to each other, incidentally) of the Cherokee woman called Polly who was the namesake for the Qualla reservation (the sound p lacking in the Cherokee language and being rendered with qu).

    Phoenicians: On the Y chromosome side of Shlush et al.’s study, male haplogroup K was found to have a relatively high frequency of 11% in the Galilee region (2008:2). K (renamed T in the revised YCC nomenclature) has long been suspected to be the genetic signature of the Phoenicians. A TV show by National Geographic appeared about a year ago titled Who Were the Phoenicians?, in which Spencer Wells of the National Genographic Project, unveiled this theory. Without a doubt it was the Phoenicians, whose name among themselves was Cana’ni or KHNAI ‘Canaanites’, not Phoenikoi ‘red paint people’ (Aubet 2001:9-12; cf. Oxford Classical Dictionary s.v. “Phoenicians” ), who are referenced by James Adair when he observes that “several old American towns are called Kan?ai,” and suggests that the Conoy Indians of Pennsylvania and Maryland were Canaanites and their tribal name a corruption of the word Canaan. The Conoy Indians are the same Indians William Penn around 1700 described as resembling Italians, Jews and Greeks. By about 1735 they had dwindled to a “remnant of a nation, or subdivided tribe, of Indians,” according to Adair (1930:56, 67, 68). One of the oldest Cherokee clans is called Red Paint Clan (Ani-wodi).

    So do the two subclades of X and other haplogroups represent Old World and New World branches diverging from each other as long ago as 30,000 years, or do the Native American “anomalous” haplotypes come more recently from the same source in the East Mediterranean? DNA Consultants 

    Ojibwe and the X2a mtDNA Enigma

    The North American sub-clade X2a usually has C-T transitions np 16278 and np 16223,with the presence of DdeI sites np 1715 and np 10394.X2b varies from all its sister lineages [X2b-h] in Eurasia and Africa. The Vantage specimen” is the oldest human in North America to test for X2a. It predates the Norse settlement in Newfoundland, Canada.

    However it does not predate the “possible speculative” arrival of a Phoenician or Carthagian woman with Hg X on board a vessel that could have been accidently blown across the Atlantic Ocean in a storm.

    Kemp [2010] identified 7 Jemes individuals from New Mexico,who shared X2a1a1 genes and who probably had an affinity with the Sioux/Cheyenne. With the exception of one Ojibwa sample all of the Hg X specimens analysed by U Perago [2009] have the coding motif 8913-12397-14302.The anomalous Ojibwa did not cluster with any known X2a branches in North America or sister sub-clades in Eurasia. It “could” be another very rare founder. It has been designated assubgroup X2g.Private control region mutations distinguish two internal X2a branches ,which are X2a1 [143-16093] and X2a2 [225-16254C].X2a1 tends to be concentrated in the Great Lakes and Great Plains region X2a2 is less common [X2a1,19; X2a2,3; X2/,1].Some western fringe X2a specimens [eg: Nuu-Chah-Nuth,Yakima] lack characteristic X2a1 and X2a2 mutations [Ibid].

    The current North American distribution of X2a tends to be concentrated in the vicinity of the Great Lakes/Great Plains with frequencies as high as 25% among some Algonquian people [eg: Ojibwa] with diminishing clines to the west and south. Frequency estimates range from Sioux ca 15%, Nuu-Chah-Nuth ca 13.5%,Navajo ca 6.5%,and Yakuma ca 4.8% [M Brown,1998]. There are a few single or very frequency occurrences of X2a lineages distal to the “Ojibwa core”. One X2a individual was identified among the Shuswap in the Caribou country of British Columbia and 5 0f 63 [7.9%] Nuu-Chah-Nuth samples off the west coast of British Columbia are probably X2a [there is not sufficient definitive data to substantiate this premise]. The above tend to support the theory that X2a was introduced to North America from NE Siberia and that a number of intermediate Hg X lineages have been lost. A Nonosabasat sample from Newfoundland, eastern Canada, had X2a[10693C,16189C, 16213A,16223T,!6278T].A number of single occurrences have been reported from the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec Province, but the data has not been sighted. G Horvati [2011] stated that X2a was identified in 3 of 6 MicMac sequences.

    Purchase Annotated Book of Mormon Here:

    The dearth of indigenous mtDNA samples from the Maritime Provines of Canada, Quebec and British Columbia severely detract from endeavours to reconstruct the migration paths of the initial X2a colonists to North America. Consequently there has been a significant degree of speculation about the entry point to North America and the coalescence dates of X2a.Its apparent, current concentration in the Great Lakes/Great Plains region is an anomaly, which can not be confidently reconciled with an Alaskan entry point. This genetic founding lineage was probably introduced to North America from NE Siberia after the glacial era, but the current dispersal pattern of X2a is not in total accord with this supposition. “If” the Ojibwa did move from Nova Scotia to the Great Lakes region ca 1400 ADE, the enigma gains in complexity.

    M Kujanova [2009] identified three subgroup X2j specimens in North Africa. V Fernandes [2012] noted that X2j shared a mutation at position 12397 with the North American subgroup X2a.She cautioned that the mutation could be a recurrence and that X2j appears to have evolved recently. The rare North American X2g lineage is compatible with the spread of of Hg X from the Near East towards the New World as early as the emergence of the X2+225 clade [ibid].

    X2 mtDNA from Near East. 20,000 years ago

    The relative absence of haplogroup X2 in Asia is one of the major factors causing the current rethinking of the peopling of the Americas. However, the New World haplogroup X2a is as different from any of the Old World X2b, X2c, X2d, X2e, and X2f lineages as they are from each other, indicating an early origin “likely at the very beginning of their expansion and spread from the Near East”

    The Solutrean Hypothesis postulates that haplogroup X reached North America with a wave of European migration about 20,000 BP by the Solutreans, a stone-age culture in south-western France and in Spain, by boat around the southern edge of the Arctic ice pack.

    In 2008 a team of genetic scientists published the following: “Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes, that all Native American haplogroups, including haplogroup X, were part of a single founding population, thereby refuting multiple-migration models.” – Fagundes NJ, Kanitz R, Eckert R, et al. (March 2008). “Mitochondrial Population Genomics Supports a Single Pre-Clovis Origin with a Coastal Route for the Peopling of the Americas” Am. J. Hum. Genet. 82 (3): 583–92. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.11.013. PMC 2427228. PMID 18313026.

    The Middle Eastern or Canadian origins of X2a mtDNA

    Did the maternal Haplogroup X2a originate in the Middle East 20,000 years ago or much much earlier in Canada ?

    Soon we will know that the Ojibwe are truly Ani-Shin-Abe. Original and 1st peoples who have existed since the very beginning, in Canada and migrated much much later to Asia and the Middle East.

    Distribution maps are worth 1000 words. Looking at the above concentrations it is clear that the areas of Central and North East Canada and the Middle East are connected via the maternal X DNA distribution. In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup X is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. It has a widespread global distribution but no major regions of distinct localization.

    Origin : mtDNA-based chart of possible large human migrations. The genetic sequences of haplogroup X diverged originally from haplogroup N, and subsequently further diverged about 30,000 years ago to give two sub-groups, X1 and X2.

    Distribution : Overall haplogroup X accounts for about 2% of the population of Europe, the Near East, and North Africa. Sub-group X1 is much less numerous, and is largely restricted to North and East Africa, and also the Near East. Sub-group X2 appears to have undergone extensive population expansion and dispersal around or soon after the last glacial maximum, about 21,000 years ago. It is more strongly present in the Near East, the Caucasus, and Mediterranean Europe; and somewhat less strongly present in the rest of Europe. Particular concentrations appear in Georgia (8%), the Orkney Islands (in Scotland), (7%) and amongst the Israeli Druze community (27%). Subclades X2a and X2g are found in North America, but are not present in native South Americans

    Druze: The greatest frequency of haplogroup X is observed in the Druze, a minority population in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, as much in X1 (16%) as in X2 (11%). The Druze also have much diversity of X lineages. This pattern of heterogeneous parental origins is consistent with Druze oral tradition. The Galilee Druze represent a population isolate, so their combination of a high frequency and diversity of X signifies a phylogenetic refugium, providing a sample snapshot of the genetic landscape of the Near East prior to the modern age.

    North America : Haplogroup X is also one of the five haplogroups found in the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Although it occurs only at a frequency of about 3% for the total current indigenous population of the Americas, it is a bigger haplogroup in northern North America, where among the Algonquin peoples (Ojibwe) it comprises up to 25% of mtDNA types. It is also present in lesser percentages to the west and south of this area—among the Sioux (15%), the Nuu-Chah-Nulth (11%–13%), the Navajo (7%), and the Yakama (5%) – Wikipedia

    X2 mtDNA of the Canadian Ojibwe(a) and Israeli Druze(b)

    Haplogroup X descends from the N Haplogroup, which dates to approximately 65,000 years ago. The origin of haplogroup X dates to approximately 30,000 years.

    “Originally found in Europe and thought to be only distributed regionally, the finding of haplogroup X in the Americas startled the human population genetics community.” -FTDNA

    Recently, it has been discovered that there are two major sub-lineages within haplogroup X, being X1 and X2.

    This blog will discuss the origins of the X2 Haplogroup which appears predominantly in both North American Ojibwe and Israeli Druze.

    Since these 2 distinct areas, the Great Lakes Region of Canada and the Sea of Galilee in Northern Israel are linked via maternal DNA,….

    So then, did X mtDNA originate in the Near East (ie: Israel) or did it originate much earlier in the area of Lake Superior in Canada ?

    It is likely that the Ojibwe people, the Anishinabe are actually the ancient ancestors to those living in Israel 21,000 years ago.

    Galilean Druze and Miss Israel contestant Angelina Duah Fares (Pic Right)

    Source: http://x2a-mtdna.blogspot.com/2013_01_01_archive.html

  • Hagoth & Polynesia- Children of Israel on the Isles of the Sea

    Hagoth & Polynesia- Children of Israel on the Isles of the Sea

    “Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians.”
    Peterson, Mark E., General Conference, April 1962.

    Many Children of Israel Upon the Isles of the Sea

    There are many distinct cultures among the Children of Israel in the Islands of the sea. The Polynesians are generally a mixture with Europeans. The Melanesians are generally a mixture with Africans, and the Micronesians most likely are a mix with the Asians. Another important mixture of people are the Australasians and the New Zealanders or Maori’s. The isles of the sea are blessed with Israelites as it continues to speak about in the scriptures.

    Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page 253

    With the blood of Israel that will include the Tribe of Judah or Hebrews. Remember also, the Native American Lamanites are related to the Polynesians and to the Hebrews. “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 (See also D&C 29:26-27; and D&C 19:27;)

    Hagoth most likely was a mixture of the Nephites, Lamanites and the Hebrew as they once lived together in North Amrierica at the Heartland.

    “Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;” 1 Nephi 21:8

    “But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren.” 2 Nephi 10:21

    “And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” 2 Nephi 2:21 and Isaiah 11″11

    Moroni’s America- Alma 63

    “In the 37th year, “there was a large company of men, even to the amount of five thousand and four hundred men, with their wives and their children, departed out of the land of Zarahemla into the land which was northward.” This would make a group of 10-20,000, depending on family size. The text does not explain whether these people sailed north or traveled overland. It doesn’t even specify from where in the land of Zarahemla they left. All we know is that the land was “northward” from Zarahemla.

    Whether they sailed or hiked, it seems unlikely that such a large group would veer far from a river. At a minimum, they would need a constant supply of water. The text says nothing about herds or grain; presumably the people would prefer fresh sources of food from fishing.

    Moroni’s America Just $9.95

    Two rivers they could follow north are the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries. Because the text does not say they left from the city of Zarahemla (on the west bank of the Mississippi), it seems more likely they would follow the Illinois River out of the land. This would have led them in proximity to the southern part of Lake Michigan and the Michigan peninsula. Anciently, much of northwestern Indiana was covered by the Kankakee marsh, through which the meandering Kankakee River flowed. That area has been called the “Everglades of the North.” It has since been drained and converted to farmland, but anciently it was an area of abundant wildlife and resources such as fresh water pearls. This would be a logical place for people to seek out. Although I don’t address archaeology in this book, archaeologists have suggested “a date of activity could logically be established as ranging from 100 B.C. to A.D. 200” in this area.[i]

    The text suggests this northward migration piqued the curiosity of a man named Hagoth.

    Alma 63:5-6 “And it came to pass that Hagoth, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward. And behold, there were many of the Nephites who did enter therein and did sail forth with much provisions, and also many women and children; and they took their course northward. And thus ended the thirty and seventh year.”

    Hagoth by Brook Malia Mann

    The story of Hagoth shows the Nephites were proficient in shipbuilding, as Mormon implies in Helaman 3:14. Mormon does not mention Hagoth because he built a ship; he mentioned Hagoth because he built an exceedingly large ship. Because the entire civilization was founded by seafarers, it would be more surprising if the Nephites did not use ships than if they did, and Hagoth demonstrates that they knew how to build ships.

    One wonders why he built such a large ship and which Nephites became passengers. Given the sequence of events, it is possible that the “large company of men” sailed north on the Illinois River, reaching the source. They would continue overland to the “land which was northward” where they reached the west sea and sent word back to Hagoth. Then Hagoth came north and built an “exceedingly large ship” to accommodate “many of the Nephites” who had gone northward.

    Why did all these people go northward? One reason could be natural expansion; i.e., the Nephite population was growing and the Lamanites occupied all the land south of Zarahemla. The east (Bountiful) was already populated. The west may have been less appealing. Another reason could be economic opportunity in the north, perhaps associated with the abundant copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula where hundreds of ancient mines have been found.[ii]

    The text says Hagoth built his ship “on the borders of the land Bountiful by the land Desolation.” This implies he constructed it inland, presumably in a protected area that would be deep enough, like on a river or inlet. From the construction site, he “launched it forth into the west sea by the narrow neck which led into the land northward.

    This passage is susceptible to more than one meaning. Of course, a “narrow neck” can be either water or land, and the text doesn’t explain which it is in this case (unlike Ether 10:20, which specifies a “narrow neck of land”).

    I discussed the various “narrow” features in the geography in Chapter 6. The Oxford English Dictionary includes these definitions of neck:

    a. A pass between hills or mountains; the narrow part of a mountain pass.
    b. A narrow channel or inlet of water; the narrow part of a sound, etc.
    c. A narrow piece of land with water on each side; an isthmus or narrow promontory
    d. A narrow stretch of wood, pasture, ice, etc.

    No mountains or woods are mentioned in Alma 63, so presumably we are dealing with 1) a narrow channel or inlet of water; 2) the narrow part of a sound; 3) an isthmus; 4) or a narrow promontory.

    A common interpretation treats by as a synonym of near; i.e., Hagoth launched his ship into the west sea near the narrow neck, and the narrow neck leads into the land northward. This interpretation assumes the neck was a neck of land, but it’s not clear how a neck of land would lead into a larger land mass. A neck of land would lead to a larger land mass, but not into one. This interpretation also raises the question of why the narrow neck is associated with the launch, but not the construction, of the ship. That is, Hagoth built the ship by the land Desolation but launched it by the narrow neck that led into the land northward.

    A second interpretation assumes that because Hagoth built the ship inland, the narrow neck could be the neck of a river that led into—meaning penetrated—the land northward.

    A third possibility is that the narrow neck was a waterway—a narrow channel or inlet—by means of which he launched his ship into the sea. In this case, the relative pronoun which would refer back to the west sea; i.e., the west sea leads into the land northward.

    Yet another interpretation would have the launching itself constitute what led into the land northward. A comma after neck would clarify this meaning; i.e., “launched it forth into the west sea by the narrow neck, which led into the land northward.”

    This interpretation is somewhat corroborated by the sequence of events. Hagoth built the ship by the land Desolation, launched it into the west sea, then picked up his passengers and took their course northward. Clearly, the west sea led into the land northward; it’s only a question of whether, and how, the narrow neck did also.

    The text distinguishes between the land northward and the land Desolation. Again, this reflects the relative nature of these terms. Often in the text, the land Desolation is northward. Here, the frame of reference is near the land Desolation where Hagoth built his ship. Consequently, the land northward in these passages is north of Desolation.

    Verse 7 points out that the first ship returned “and set out again to the land northward.” That seems inconsistent with the idea that Hagoth’s departure point was close to the land northward, which would be the case if it was next to a narrow neck that led into that land. His passengers were boarding a ship in the west sea because that sea led into the land northward, not because the narrow neck did.

    There are several places along Lake Michigan that would qualify as a “narrow neck” under the definitions given. The lake today is at around 577 feet above sea level. There are areas such as Benton Harbor where the land is only a few feet higher than the lake. In ancient times, when the lake was higher, the harbor would have been much bigger than it is today, surrounded by peninsulas—narrow necks.[iii]  It would be a good place to build an exceedingly large ship, and then launch it into the west sea.

    This all becomes clearer by referencing the map to the left.

    Hagoth was not satisfied with only one ship.

    7 And in the thirty and eighth year, this man built other ships. And the first ship did also return, and many more people did enter into it; and they also took much provisions, and set out again to the land northward.

    8 And it came to pass that they were never heard of more. And we suppose that they were drowned in the depths of the sea. And it came to pass that one other ship also did sail forth; and whither she did go we know not.

    The text does not say in what month of the thirty-seventh year Hagoth launched his first ship, or in what month it returned in the thirty-eighth year. The first ship could have been gone an entire year, only a few months, or nearly two years. I assume it returned after about a year, only because Hagoth built other ships before it returned.

    At any rate, the first voyage was successful.  Either the ship sailed for six months, discovered something worth exploring, and turned around for supplies for an even longer expedition, or it spent some period of time—a winter, perhaps—at its destination before returning. It may have dropped off passengers at various locations, such as the mining areas in northern Michigan, and then continued exploring. There was at least one permanent community in the land northward because Alma’s son Corianton went forth to deliver provisions to the people who had settled there (Alma 63:10).

    Polynesia

    One aspect of the Hagoth verses is the link that has been made between Hagoth and the Polynesian people. Although the text says the Nephites thought Hagoth’s people were drowned at sea, there are LDS traditions that Hagoth’s people went to Japan, Hawaii, and Polynesian Islands.[iv]

    Without commenting on the merits of these traditions, is the North American setting consistent with them?

    The answer is yes.

    Although the common view regarding Hagoth is that he launched his boats directly into the Pacific Ocean (i.e., the west sea), his ships could have arrived in the Pacific from Lake Michigan also. The Black and White map above left, shows a northeast waterway that leads to the St. Lawrence Seaway. From there, a ship could navigate to the Pacific by going south around South America or north through the Northwest passage and down through the Bering Strait.

    In a 1976 talk to the Samoans, President Kimball referred to the scattering of Israel in connection with the Polynesians. He said, “Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point.”[v] That could be consistent with the Northwest Passage route.

    Other traditions refer to the ancestors of the Maoris coming from “the joining of two waters.”[vi] Although Matthew Cowley and others interpreted that phrase to refer to the “narrow neck of land between two bodies of water,” meaning Central America, the two waters do not join there. Two waters join at the southern tip of South America: the Atlantic and the Pacific.

    The North American setting doesn’t establish the Hagoth-Polynesia link, but it doesn’t contradict it, either. Moroni’s America by Jonathan Neville page 181-190

    [i] William L. Mangold, “The Middle Woodland Occupations of the Kankakee River Valley and Beyond,” Doctoral Dissertation in the Department of Anthropology, Indiana University (2009) p. 219. Available online at http://www.kankakeevalleyhistoricalsociety.org/Mangold_Dissertation%20(2).pdf

    [ii] “The Native Americans used the copper from this area for the last 6800 years. The natives mined the copper from the bedrock as well as from glacial deposits. The entire peninsula from Keweenaw Point to the Ontonagon River area contain ancient mining pits. The deposits on Isle Royale were also mined by natives (a conservative estimate is that there were at least 1089 pits on the island).” Collector’s Corner, Mineralogical Society of America, http://bit.ly/Moroni144.

    [iii] One “analysis of 115 geographic features English-speaking colonists called a ‘neck of land’” concluded that the Book of Mormon narrow neck of land would be a peninsula rather than an isthmus because 113 of the 115 features studied were peninsulas. “Necks of Land,” Book of Mormon Resources, http://bit.ly/Moroni145. Of course, if the narrow neck here was a water feature, it would not be a peninsula.

    [iv] For a thorough overview of LDS teachings, see Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., (Religious Studies Center, BYU 1992), 249-62, online at http://bit.ly/Moroni146.  Genetic data suggests the Polynesians came from Southeast Asia and Taiwan. See K. R. Howe, “Ideas of Maori Origins,” The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni147.

    [v] Parsons, op cit.

    [vi] Parsons, op cit.

    President Nelson Visits Polynesia May 2019

    4,000 Latter-day Saints in Fiji welcomed President Nelson on his fifth stop of Pacific Ministry Tour on May 22, 2019. Here is the article about his Fiji visit.

    I remember that beautiful land and the wonderful saints of Fiji very well, as I served a mission from 1975 to 1977. I was privileged to meet President Spencer W. Kimball the prophet who called me on my mission to Fiji. There in 1976 he visited Fiji with Elder Russell M Nelson as his personal Doctor along with Elder David B. Haight as a newly called Apostle. The picture on the left is Pres Kimball in Fiji in 1976 with District President Yee on his left and Sister Yee on his right. Over his left shoulder is Mission President Kenneth M. Palmer from New Zealand and over his right shoulder is Elder Rian W. Nelson. What an honor it was to be there that day. At that time in Fiji we only had about 600 members and today (2021) we have over 22,154. As part of the Fiji Suva Mission we also opened the missionary work in the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati today). My companion Richard Evans and I were the first to baptize the Gilbertese people, and today there are over 15,000 members there. It is now called Kiribati where in 2021 there are 20,946 members. In the entire Oceania (Pacific) area there are over 572,895 members of the Church. The Church growth among Hagoth’s blessed people is growing all the time.

    I have lived with Fijians, served them and had hundreds of visits with them at my home They are pure wonderful people. They have the Spirit of Lamanites about them. It is very interesting to me that their dwellings (called a Bure, pronounced bur-ey), very closely resemble the Hopewell civilization in the United States. The Fijians also have the chiefs home built higher on a platform rather than a regular villager as seen below.

    Nephite and Lamanite Link to Polynesia by Joseph Smith Foundation

    Summary

    In 1836, the keys to direct the work of gathering the House of Israel were given to Joseph Smith by Moses in the Kirtland Temple (see D&C 110:11).   Seven years later, the first missionaries were sent to the Polynesian islands, and later to Japan.

    The story of Hagoth in the Book of Mormon, a Nephite who built several ships and sailed away with a large group of Nephites (Alma 63:4–9), has sparked an interest in the origins of the Polynesian people.  Many statements have been made by Presidents of the Church and members of the Twelve Apostles in regard to their belief that the Polynesian people originated from Lehi’s American colony.

    Inspired Teachings Polynesia

    Mark E. Petersen

    The Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. Why do they have this great faith? It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men. 1

    George Q. Cannon

    The doctrine that the Hawaiian people and all other Polynesians are heirs to the blessings promised to the posterity of Abraham had its origin through George Q. Cannon. While he was at Lahaina, he received a knowledge directly from the Lord that the Hawaiians were of the house of Israel. From this time on Elder Cannon and his associates began to teach that the Hawaiian people were an offshoot branch of Israel through the posterity of Lehi, the Book of Mormon prophet.  2

    Patriarchal Blessings

    Paul Cheesman notes in Early America and the Polynesians that Bruce G. Pitt, a graduate student, “viewed a portion of microfilm #34 in the BYU library” which contained the patriarchal blessings given to these people in regard to the lineage declared in the blessings. The following information was found: “Of 321 total Polynesian lineages viewed, 155 were declared to be of Manasseh, 2 of Manasseh and Ephraim, 68 of Joseph, 62 of Israel, 4 of Jacob, 28 of Ephraim, 1 of Lehi and 1 of Japeth. . . .

    Another [graduate] researcher, Max Hirschi, recorded that out of 35 patriarchal blessings given to Polynesians, thirteen were from the tribe of Ephraim, fourteen were told they were from Manasseh, and the other eight were of the tribe of Joseph”.

    During Dr. Paul Cheesman’s visits to the islands, he questioned patriarchs in the various places and found “that nearly three-fourths [of the declared lineages] were from Manasseh and one-fourth were from Ephraim, with some being designated as descendants of the tribe of Joseph”. Since Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh (Alma 10:3) and Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim (Journal of Discourses 23:184), the common lineage of these two descendants of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and the Polynesian Saints gives support to the theory that the Polynesians came from the American Nephites.   3

    Japan

    Heber J. Grant

    According to Alma Taylor’s reminiscences of the event [Elder Heber J. Grant’s prayer dedicating the land of Japan for missionary work in 1901], Elder Grant “spoke of those who, because of iniquity, had been cut off from among the Nephites . . . and said we felt that through the lineage of those rebellious Nephites who joined with the Lamanites, that the blood of Lehi and Nephi [and of all Israel] had been transmitted unto the people of this land, many of whom have the features and manners of the American Indians, [and he] asked the Lord that if this were true that He would not forget the integrity of His servants Lehi and Nephi and would verify the promises made unto them concerning their descendants in the last days upon this [the Japanese] people for we felt that they were a worthy nation”.   4

    Hawaii

    Matthew Cowley

    Brothers and sisters, you are God’s children—you are Israel. You have in your veins the blood of Nephi. 5

    New Zealand

    David O. McKay

    We express gratitude that to these fertile islands thou didst guide descendants of Father Lehi and hast enabled them to prosper.   6

    Spencer W. Kimball

    And so it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction.

    [President Spencer W. Kimball continued by quoting former President Joseph F. Smith as saying:]

    “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is No Perhaps about it!”  He didn’t want any arguments about it. That was definite. So you are of Israel. You have been scattered. Now you are being gathered.   7

    It might be of interest to you to know that when Elder Spencer W. Kimball set me apart for my mission to New Zealand in 1946, he said: “We bless you with power and the ‘gift of tongues’ to learn the language of the Maoris. . . . We set you apart among the Children of Lehi to do good.”   8

    Gordon B. Hinckley

    Again, there was something prophetic about it. Here were two great strains of the house of Israel the children of Ephraim from the isles of Britain, and the children of Lehi from the isles of the Pacific.   9

    Hugh B. Brown

    We thank Thee, O God, for revealing to us the Book of Mormon, the story of the ancient inhabitants of America. We thank Thee that from among those inhabitants, the ancestors of these whose heads are bowed before Thee here, came from the western shores of America into the South Seas pursuant to Thy plan and now their descendants humbly raise their voices in grateful acknowledgement of Thy kindness, Thy mercy, and Thy love for them and those who went before them.

    We humbly thank Thee that this building is erected in this land, so that those faithful Maoris who came here in early days, descendants of Father Lehi, may be remembered by their descendants and saved through the ordinances that will, in this House, be performed in their behalf.   10

    Matthew Cowley

    Elder Matthew Cowley tells of a great convention held in 1881 that represented all of the native tribes of New Zealand. They were gathered at a native village near Mastertown, near Wellington. Many who attended that conference were old enough to have seen the first Christian missionaries arrive in New Zealand, and all who attended belonged to a Christian church. They were Catholics, Methodists, or Presbyterians. One of the dominant topics considered was why the Maoris were no longer religiously unified as they had been before Christianity came to them. If Christianity was the higher light—the true religion—why were they divided into many churches? So they began asking themselves which of these Christian churches was the right one for the Maori race and which one they should all belong to so that there would be only one church among them. Not knowing the answer and not being able to decide in their debate, they turned to their wisest sage, Paora Potangaroa, and asked him which church they should all join. He said he would have to think on it and then went to his own residence which was nearby. After three days of fasting and prayer, asking Jehovah which was the right church for the Maori people, he returned to his people and said: “My friends, the church for the Maori people has not yet come among us. You will recognize it when it comes. Its missionaries will travel in pairs. They will come from the rising sun. They will visit with us in our homes. They will learn our language and teach us the gospel in our own tongue. When they pray they will raise their right hands.”

    Paora Potangaroa then asked Ranginui Kingi to write down what he was going to say and his words were proclaimed to his people at the “eight-years house” on the 16th day of March 1881. Several things were said of interest to us: First, the year 1881 is the “day of fulness”; that is the year that the missionaries first taught the fulness of the gospel to the Maori people. It is also the year W. M. Bromley arrived to preside over the mission. He was told before leaving Utah “that the time had come to take the gospel to the Maori people.” Potangaroa said the next year, 1882, would be the year of the “sealing.” It was in 1882 when they were first taught about the sealing ordinances performed in the temple. He said the third year, 1883, would be the year of “the honoring,” when they would pay “tribute to whom tribute was due, custom to whom custom . . . honor to whom honor” (See Romans 13:7). Elder Cowley interpreted that as the year when Maoris joined the Church in great numbers and gave “tribute to whom tribute was due [and] custom to whom custom” was due as they began worshiping the Lord.

    The prophecy went on to say that they were the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They would learn of the scepter of Judah, and of “Shiloh, the king of peace.” They would also learn of “the sacred church with a large wall surrounding it.” There would be an “increase of the[ir] race” and of their faith, love, and peace. That was at a time when the Maoris were beginning to be exterminated, much as the American Indian was in the United States. There was a great deal of apprehension among them, a fear they would disappear as a people.

    This covenant was written down on a piece of paper, and at the top of the piece of paper they drew an “all-seeing eye.” This prophecy was then placed in a cement monument in the eight-years house where the convention was held. It remained there from 1881 until 1929, when a Maori sect known as the Ratana Church, in groping for substantiation that they were the true church of the Maoris as foretold by Potangaroa, broke open the cement monument to get at his prophecy, hoping to find something in it that would establish their claim to be the right church for the Maori.  Unfortunately, the storage chamber which contained the prophecy had not been hermetically sealed and the paper had been so damaged by moisture that nothing was legible on it.

    That was 1929. In 1944, Matthew Cowley was the New Zealand mission president. He was there during the war years, and the only American missionaries he had were himself, his wife, and their daughter. They held a convention for the Maoris in the same area where Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy in 1881. Present at the 1944 convention was Eriata Nopera, another great Maori chief. When he rose to speak, he told his people that he had been a little boy there when Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy and repeated what he remembered of the prophecy. At the end of that day’s convention, one of the women attending the convention had her husband go fetch parcel wrapped in brown paper from a trunk in their house. When he brought her the parcel, she called President Cowley and Eriata Nopera into an adjoining room and gave it to them. They opened the parcel and found a photograph of Potangaroa’s written prophecy wrapped up in it.

    What had happened was that in 1881, when the prophecy was written down by Ranginui, a photographer in Wellington had heard that a Maori had made a prophecy. He traveled out to that village and asked for permission to photograph it. This was granted and he photographed the prophecy before it was sealed in the cement monument. This woman’s family got a copy of that photograph and had kept it since. She then gave it to Brother Nopera, who in turn gave it to President Matthew Cowley. That is the way we know what was in Paora Potangaroa’s prophecy.  11

    Samoa

    Spencer W. Kimball

    I thought to read to you a sacred scripture which pertains especially to you the islanders of the Pacific. It is in the sixty-third chapter of Alma [He then read the account of Hagoth.]

    And so it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction.   12

    Tonga

    Robert E. Parsons

    I asked Elder John Groberg, who has spent years among the Tongans, if they had any traditions concerning their coming to the islands. He said they had nothing as detailed as the Maori, but that Church members among both Tongans and Samoans were adamant in their tradition that they came from the east, not the west as some modern scholars affirm. 13 

    Notes:

    1. Petersen, Mark E. “New Evidence for the Book of Mormon,” Improvement Era (June 1962) 65:456–59; also in Conference Report (Apr 1962) 111–15
    2. George Q. Cannon, as quoted in Britsch, R. Lanier. Unto the Islands of the Sea: A History of the Latter-day Saints in the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986, pp. 97–98
    3. Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman. Early America and the Polynesians. Provo, Utah: Promised Lands Publication, Inc., 1975, p. 15; as quoted in Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62
    4. Reminiscences by Alma Taylor of Elder Heber J. Grant’s 1901 prayer dedicating the land of Japan to receive the restored gospel, Palmer, Spencer J., and Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1989, p. 91
    5. Elder Matthew Cowley, in an address to the Hawaiian people at Laie, as recorded in Cole, William A., and Edwin W. Jensen. Israel in the Pacific: A Genealogical Text For Polynesia. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1961, p. 384
    6. Prayer offered by President David O. McKay the the dedicatory prayer of the New Zealand Temple, “Dedicatory Prayer Delivered By Pres. McKay at New Zealand Temple,” Church News, 10 May 1958, 2, 6
    7. President Spencer W. Kimball in a talk to the Samoan people, as recorded in the “Official Report of the Samoa Area Conference Held in Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa,” February 15, 16, 17, 18, 1976
    8. Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62
    9. President Gordon B. Hinckley’s comment at the dedication of the New Zealand temple upon observing Europeans assembling with the Maoris of the Pacific, “Temple in the Pacific.” Improvement Era (July 1958) 61:506–509, 538
    10. Elder Hugh B. Brown’s closing prayer at the ceremony to lay the cornerstone for the New Zealand Temple, as told in Cummings, David W. Mighty Missionary of the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1961, p. 63; and Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman. Early America and the Polynesians. Provo, Utah: Promised Lands Publication, Inc., 1975, p. 14
    11. Cowley, Matthew. Matthew Cowley—Speaks. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954, pp. 200-205, as quoted in Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 249–262
    12. President Spencer W. Kimball in a talk to the Samoan people, as recorded in the “Official Report of the Samoa Area Conference Held in Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa,” February 15, 16, 17, 18, 1976
    13. Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–62

    Joseph Smith Foundation-Wiki 

    1937 Stuart Meha and “The Personal Testimony of Stuart Meha,” Waipawa, H. B., New Zealand. Elwin W. Jensen A signed manuscript, recorded May 20, 1937, in the Missionary Journal,  (abt. Joseph F. Smith) First Mission, Elder Elwin W. Jensen, Salt Lake City.

    Although some scholars insist that the Polynesian ancestors came from the Orient and sailed east to settle Polynesia, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always taught that they sailed west from America. In 1818, Stuart Meha, a Maori Latter-day Saint from New Zealand, sent a telegram to the Church leaders thanking them for the privilege of allowing a group of Maori saints to travel to Salt Lake to go through the temple. In the telegram, Brother Meha added the words: “Who knows but that some of Hagoth’s people have returned–perhaps!”

    Later, the First Presidency of the Church, and some of the General Authorities, gave a welcome, in Wandermere Park, in honor of this party of Maori Saints from New Zealand. In a speech delivered on that occasion, President [Joseph F.] Smith replied to the telegram: “I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is NO PERHAPS about it!” Continuing,

    President Smith told how it had been given to him by the spirit, while laboring in Hawaii, that the Polynesians were descendants of Lehi. Brother Meha testifies that these statements touched his heart, and he had no more uncertainties as to whether the Polynesians were truly of the House of Israel. (From “The Personal Testimony of Stuart Meha,” Waipawa, H. B., New Zealand. A signed manuscript, recorded May 20, 1937, in the Missionary Journal, First Mission, Elder Elwin W. Jensen, Salt Lake City.

    Source: Allen H. Richardson, David E. Richardson and Anthony E. Bentley. 1000 Evidences for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Part Two-A Voice from the Dust: 500 Evidences in Support of the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Envision Press, 2001, p. 33.

    *The expression that Hagoth was an “exceedingly curious man” meant that his skills and knowledge in ship building were extremely good and was beyond the ability of common men. To those who could not comprehend how he could have constructed the ship, they used the term “curious” to describe his skills, similar to Nephi’s skill referred to in 1 Nephi 18:1.341 Hagoth’s Travels Alma 63:6 (55 B.C.)

    “The map below suggests a possible area where Hagoth built and launched his ship. In ancient America, the Grand Kankakee Marsh and the Great Black Swamp almost merged. The land between the two wetlands produced a narrow neck which provided an entrance into “the land northward.” As shown, “the borders of the land Bountiful” are next to “seas.” Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 341

  • Cherokee/ Phoenician/ Hebrew/ Lamanite DNA

    Cherokee/ Phoenician/ Hebrew/ Lamanite DNA

    The Book of Mormon is an Historical Record.

    “Having a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and knowing it is true, leaves little doubt that the Book of Mormon is an historical record. Its words are a foundational pillar upon which much of the gospel rests. Its truths are fundamental to our belief in the prophet Joseph Smith and the commencement of the restoration of the gospel. It is not possible that the Book of Mormon could be spiritually true and historically false.” Rod Meldrum 2023

    Cherokee

    I believe it is very likely that the Cherokee are some of the lineage of the Nephites. They seem to be connected to many people all over the world. It makes sense that the Jaredites remnant and the Nephite remnant may have spread all over the world throughout the ages. The Jaredites may have populated America from the west coast of America and the Nephites from the south eastern part of America as you have read on my various blogs.

    The Cherokee are an important connection between the Old World and the New World. There are many names that the Cherokee are related to:

    Purchase Here:

    Phoenicians
    Moors
    Berbers
    Punic
    Canaanite
    Hebrew
    Mulengeons
    Carthenegins
    Turks
    Greeks
    Mesopotamian
    Egyptian
    North African
    Nanticokes
    Guineas
    Cubans
    Portuguese
    Creoles

    Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle. “They derived their name from Palaza, a name of ancient Magadha, a powerful Yadava kingdom in what is now today’s state of Bihar. When the Palazis came to America, they came with the intention of staying. Therefore, they became the Apalizis (Ex-Palazis). Without a doubt, these “Apalazis” were the founders of the mound-building cultures, for in other parts of the world they built the Egyptian pyramids, became the founding fathers of Greek civilization, and the like.” 
    Additional Information>

    Magadha was an ancient Indian kingdom in southern Bihar, and was counted as one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas, ‘Great Countries’ of ancient India. Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism, and two of India’s greatest empires, the Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire, originated in Magadha.

    Looking into the Cherokee heritage is exciting. They are a very important part of the history in our world. It is amazing how many cultures they have influenced and are part of.

    DNA SCIENTISTS CLAIM THAT CHEROKEES ARE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

    April 16, 2017

    “The laboratory immediately stumbled into a scientific hornet’s nest. That Cherokee princess in someone’s genealogy was most likely a Jewish or North African princess. Its scientists have labeled the Cherokees not as Native Americans, but as a Middle Eastern-North African population. Cherokees have high levels of test markers associated with the Berbers, native Egyptians, Turks, Lebanese, Hebrews and Mesopotamians. Genetically, they are more Jewish than the typical American Jew of European ancestry. So-called “full-blooded” Cherokees have high levels of European DNA and a trace of Asiatic (Native American) DNA. Their skin color and facial features are primarily Semitic in origin, not Native American.” https://dnaconsultants.com/cherokee-unlike-other-indians/

    “DNA haplogroup X2a is a major mtDNA subclade in North America; among the Algonquian peoples, it comprises up to 25% of mtDNA types which is also found in a similar percentage among the Druze in the Hills of Galilee.”(“The peopling of the Americas: Genetic ancestry influences health,” Scientific American, 14 August 2009.

    Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 91

    Harvard University professor Barry Fell in his book Saga America first published in 1980 presented historical, epigraphic, archeological and linguistic evidence suggesting links between Greeks and Egyptians and the Algonquian Indians of Nova Scotia, Acadia and surrounding regions around the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway, particularly the Abnaki (“White”) and Micmac Indians. See here: https://dnaconsultants.com/acadian-anomalies/ “Map of Algonquian Language Distribution” in Appendix, “Native America DNA Studies” pp. 556-57.)

    LDS scholar and surgeon, Dr. David Stewart in his online article found on the Church’s LDS.org website titled “DNA and the Book of Mormon,” quotes fellow LDS scholar Martin Tanner, contributor to the Neil A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (formerly FARMS), who explains his position:The idea haplogroup X has been in the Americas for 10 to 35 thousand years is based solely upon the assumptions of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, which include: (1) completely neutral variants, (2) no mutation, (3) no migration, (4) constant near infinite population size, and, (5) completely random mate choice. In the Book of Mormon account, most of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium assumptions are inapplicable. The wilderness journey, the ocean voyage, and the colonization of the new world, result in patterns of genetic selection and DNA migration different from that found in Lehi’s home environment. Closely related individuals married and we are dealing with an [initially] very small group, not a nearly infinite population which would dramatically alter DNA marker distribution and inheritance over time. If we take these assumptions about haplogroup X instead of the Hardy-Weinberg assumptions, haplogroup X could have been introduced into the Americas as recently as one to two thousand years ago, far less than the ten to thirty-five thousand years under the Hardy-Weinberg assumptions. Ref 96

    Haplogroup X plausibility in relation to the Book of Mormon
    Is there any possible correlation of Haplogroup X with the Book of Mormon and Lehi’s group? Can we narrow down the potential connections? Is it possible, or even probable, that there will ever be any evidence in favor or support of the Book of Mormon’s claim of being a historical account of real people? The understanding, of course, is that DNA cannot “prove” the historicity of the Book of Mormon, but rather a case is being built that may support its authenticity. After reading the information presented here it should be clear that each of these questions may now be answered with a resounding “Yes!” Rod Meldrum Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA 2009

    Connecting the Cherokee and the Phoenician’s DNA

    CHEROKEE UNLIKE OTHER INDIANS
    Monday, May 28, 2018

    The Cherokee Nation Lands in 1830 Georgia, before the Trail of Tears

    Dorene Soiret always knew there was something different about her ancestry. She had been on a fruitless quest to prove her family’s Cherokee heritage for many years until she joined Phase III of DNA Consultants’ Cherokee DNA Studies Project. She will have to wait a little longer for all the answers. But in the meantime, she is enrolled as Participant 52 and matches one other woman in the unique study, their rare lineage labeled American Indian H1z1.

    Historically, H1 is centered in Libya and Tunisia among the Tuareg people, concentrated around the site of ancient Carthage. In the first millennium BCE, this was the homeland of the sea-roving Phoenicians, who sent teeming colonies westward composed of natives from the Maghreb interior. The Cherokee Paint Clan, it has been suggested by Donald Yates and others, preserves their name, Paint or *Punic People, given to them because of their monopoly in making purple dye and trading luxury goods.

    Article about the *Punic People at the end of this blog.

    The Phoenicians’ name in their own Semitic language translates as “Canaanite,” a reflection of their origins in the East Mediterranean. James Adair, who wrote the first book about American Indians in 1775, suggested this ethnonym (national identity) appears in the name of the Kanawha River and as the name of a now-extinct Indian tribe in Kentucky and West Virginia. Phoenicians are probably also the source of haplogroup X in the New World, and they are implicated in the mystery of the Melungeon people, with court cases mentioning them by name.

    Soiret’s direct female line, like all the others in the program, goes back to a historical Cherokee woman, in this case the wife of Lycan Adkins who lived between 1829 and 1908 and whose maiden name was Murray. The test subject has several other multiply intermarried Adkinses in her ancestry.

    Phase III of Cherokee DNA Studies is now closed, with 57 participants enrolled over the past three years. It began in 2007 and went through two phases before the publication of the book CHEROKEE DNA STUDIES: REAL PEOPLE WHO PROVED THE GENETICISTS WRONG. The results of Phase III will be published in a sequel, Cherokee DNA Studies, Volume 2: More Real People Who Proved the Geneticists Wrong (forthcoming 2018). See CHEROKEE STUDY CLOSED.

    Although ignored by most tribal bibliographies and Native American journals,  was favorably reviewed by Stephen C. Jett, a noted geographer, who endorsed it with the screed, “Revolutionary DNA findings.” He went on to say in his academic book, ANCIENT OCEAN CROSSINGS (University of Alabama Press 2017):  “Donald N. Yates and collaborators… characterized the mtDNA of fifty-two individuals of partial Cherokee ancestry who did not display any of the usual Native American mtDNA haplogroups A through D… identifying (in order of the frequency) haplogroups T, U, X, J, H, L and K. T, X, and J are essentially Levantine (eastern Mediterranean) in origin….”



    Further, Jett noted that the East Mediterranean haplogroup showings were interesting for several reasons:

    Hg T seems to have emerged in Mesopotamia and later spread into Europe. This Hg occurred in nearly 27 percent of Yates’ sample. None of the Cherokee Ts exactly matched any other known T haplotype, and the Cherokee percentage of T was three times as high as that of the general US population. Cherokee/*Melungeon-associated J haplotypes are not precisely duplicated elsewhere, either, suggesting the passage of much time to allow differentiation…. Hg U is largely European….and is generally absent among Native Americans. However, it reached a level of approximately 25 percent among those Cherokee descendants, whose Hts (haplotypes) turned out to be very diverse and to include some mutations unique to American Indians, again implying  considerable elapsed time since introduction… the Cherokee descendants shared some haplotypes with Jews. Too, the Jewish ‘Cohen gene’ has been traced back within the Cherokee to no later than about AD 1640.”

    https://visitcherokeenc.com/

    Information at the end about *Melungeon People

    Jett concluded that the distribution of haplogroups was evidently ancient and not the result of recent European or Middle Eastern admixture in America:

    Yates’ genetically remarkably diverse Cherokee sample, the unique haplotypes represented therein, and the frequencies of the haplogroups found—quite different from those of the larger US populations—are striking: ‘Similar proportions of these haplogroups are noted in the populations of Egypt, Israel and other parts of the East Mediterranean … No such mix could result from post-1492 European gene flow into the Cherokee Nation.’” (pp. 353f.)

    Preliminary results from Phase III (closed in May 2018) confirm the “non-American Indian,” or anomalous Native American component of Cherokee descendants. The updated haplogroup findings across Phases I-III are as follow:

    Haplogroup N= Percent New in Phase III
    U 40 22.7 17
    T 31 17.6 4
    H 30 17 16
    J 17 9.7 10
    A-D 13 7.4 3
    K 11 6.3 5
    X 9 5.1 0
           
    Total Participants 151 85.8 55
    All Others 25 14.2 2
    Grand Total 176 100.0 57

    As can be seen, U emerges as the most common anomalous type of Cherokee, modally U5 (n=23, one of the oldest forms of U and MOST COMMON IN MIDDLE EASTERNERS AND EUROPEANS), followed by T and H. The expected haplogroups A-D account for only 7.4 percent of Cherokee lineages according to the DNA Consultants study, suggesting a very divergent type from other American Indians. Mesopotamian and Old European types (including Greek, Egyptian, Israeli, Levantine and others) represent 81.8 percent of lineages. (Here, X is grouped with Levantine, as no firm separation can be established between Old and New World types.)

    Genetic analyses of Cherokee mtDNA or female lineages thus continue to point to Egypt, Israel/Phoenicia and Greece, as first proposed on historical grounds by Yates book from 2012 here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/bookstore/product/old-world-roots-of-the-cherokee-book/ 

    The Adkinses appear to be part of a little-studied phenomenon of Welsh or British Jews. Their surname means “kin of Arthur (or Adam).” In 2012, Donald Yates wrote about the pioneer family in his book above, (pp. 144-45):

    Adkins . . . is a family heavily intermarried with the pioneer Coopers, Blevinses and Burkes from Wayne County, Kentucky.  They came from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, an important staging area for the movement of Melungeon families along the northern and eastern boundaries of the Overhill Cherokee. The family is traced to a James Atkinson, a Quaker who came to Philadelphia in the 1600s, probably from a seaport in Wales. His great-grandson William Adkins left a will dated Jan. 22, 1784 and probated March 15, 1784, detailing an accumulation of wealth, and was buried near Cooper’s Old Store, Pittsylvania County. William’s son Owen was born about 1750 in Lunenberg County, Virginia (parent county of Pittsylvania) and died in Watauga, Hawkins County, Tennessee about 1790. He married Agnes Good/Goad, from the same family that provided a spouse to Valentine Sevier (1701/02-1803). Good is the English equivalent of Shem Tov, Buen, Boone, Le Bon and other names for those bearing the “good name” of King David. Valentine and Agnes were the parents of John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee. One of his sons, Valentine, married Sarah Cooper. The Seviers can be traced to Don Juan de Xavier of a Sephardic family who took refuge in Navarre during the Spanish Inquisition.

    In 1836, Benjamin Adkins built a log mill on the Little South Fork of the Cumberland near Parmleysville, Kentucky, made of huge squared logs. This mill, with rifle slits on two levels, is still standing. He left a will in 1839 showing $10,000 in debts owed him and an estate of great value. Numerous family members moved first to Sequatchee (Marion County, Tennessee) and subsequently to Sand Mountain and to a hidden cove at the foot of Fox Mountain (named after Black Fox) called Anawaika, or Deerhead, on the Georgia state line. Some proceeded west to Arkansas. William E. Adkins (about 1828-1862) married Susan E. (Sukie) Cooper (about 1831-1901), the daughter of Isaac and Mahala Jane (Blevins) Cooper, April 20, 1847, in Henry County, Tennessee, and descendants filed unsuccessful applications to be enrolled as Cherokee in Indian Territory. Memories of their Cherokee ancestors ran thin, but Steve Adkins of Arkansas  recalled in 2001, “When I was little my Great Grandma Adkins (Virgie Stanley) use to tell me stories about my Great Grandfather’s (Arthur ‘Aud’ Adkins) Grandmother. She said her name was Sukie and she was a Cherokee Indian. I later found out that ‘Sukie’ was a nickname for Susan. She also mentioned the name Mahala Blevins.”

    The Adkins family in America exhibits a familiar pattern of trading and land development on the Southern frontier, intermarriage with the Cherokee Indians and Crypto-Jewish or Melungeon connections. In these respects, their history echoes that of the Coopers, Blevinses, Walkers, Gists, Troxells, Adairs and others in genealogical literature. The genetics of their Indian marriage partners forms the main interest of Cherokee DNA Studies.

    Although Dorene Soiret’s story is unusual compared to most Americans it is completely typical when placed beside the Cherokee descendants profiled in DNA Consultants’ Cherokee DNA Studies.

    Be open-minded and continue your journey! Dohiyi!

    Disclaimer: Our genetic findings about Cherokee people have not been submitted for peer-reviewed scientific or historical publication.

    https://youtu.be/aNQUupHeBoc?si=IKzFabmt5jm3EHz-
    It is not widely known that haplogroup X is one of the 12 primary Jewish lineages, and is found in the Cherokee.

    Cherokee/Phoenician Connection

    The connection of the Cherokee and the Phoenician is amazing information. The Cherokee seem to be well connected to the Phoenicians and the Jewish people. You may know our friend Boyd Tuttle has spent some time on the replica Phoenicia ship guided by British Sailor Philip Beale as they sail from ancient Carthage toward Florida. We believe the voyage of Mulek followed this route and the Phoenicians brought the People of Zarahemla or the Mulekites to this land. They traveled up the Mississippi River to eventually be stopped by the Des Moines river rapids near Nauvoo, Illinois.

    See LDS Living article about Mr Philip Beale’s Phoenicia voyage. Latter-day Saint Joins Epic Sailing Expedition to Recreate Possible Book of Mormon Voyage

    Punic People

    Punic praying statuette, c. 3rd century BC

    “The Cherokee Paint Clan, it has been suggested by Donald Yates and others, preserves their name, Paint or *Punic People, given to them because of their monopoly in making purple dye and trading luxury goods.” DNA Consultants’ Cherokee DNA Studies. “The Punic language, also called Canaanite or Phoenicio-Punic, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite language of the Semitic family. It was spoken in Northwest Africa and several Mediterranean islands by the Punic people throughout Classical antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 6th century AD? Wikipedia

    The Punics (from Latin punicus, pl. punici), also known as Carthaginians, were a people from Ancient Carthage (modern Tunisia and Northeastern part of Algeria) who traced their origins to the Phoenicians. Punic is the English adjective, derived from the Latin adjective punicus to describe anything Carthaginian. Their language, Punic, was a dialect of Phoenician.

    Empire of Carthage
    History 814–146 BCE
    The Punic religion was based on that of their Phoenician forefathers, who worshiped Baal Hammon and Melqart, but merged Phoenician ideas with Numidian and some Greek and Egyptian deities, such as Apollo, Tanit, and Dionysus, with Baal Hammon being clearly the most important Punic god.[3] Punic culture became a melting pot, since Carthage was a big trading port, but the Carthaginians retained some of their old cultural identities and practices.

    The Carthaginians carried out significant sea explorations around Africa and elsewhere from their base in Carthage. In the 5th century BCE, Hanno the Navigator played a significant role in exploring coastal areas of present-day Morocco and other parts of the African coast, specifically noting details of indigenous peoples such as at Essaouira.[4][5] Carthaginians pushed westerly into the Atlantic and established important settlements in Lixus, Volubilis, Chellah and Mogador, among other locations.

    Greek–Punic and Roman–Punic Wars
    Being trade rivals with Magna Graecia, the Carthaginians had several clashes with the Greeks over the island of Sicily in the Sicilian Wars from 600 to 265 BCE.

    They eventually also fought Rome in the Sicilian Wars of 265–146 BCE but lost because they were outnumbered, had a lack of full governmental involvement, and relied too much on their navy. That enabled Roman settlement of Africa and eventual domination of the Mediterranean Sea. Cato the Elder famously ended all his speeches, regardless of their subject, with the imperative that Carthage be utterly crushed, a view summarised in Latin by the phrase Praeterea censeo Carthaginem esse delendam meaning, “Moreover, I declare, Carthage must be destroyed!”. Although the Carthaginians were eventually conquered in 146 BCE, with their city destroyed, Cato never got to see his victory, having died 3 years earlier.

    146 BCE–700 CE
    The destruction of Carthage was not the end of the Carthaginians. After the wars, the city of Carthage was completely razed and the land around it was turned into farmland for Roman citizens. There were, however, other Punic cities in Northwest Africa, and Carthage itself was rebuilt and regained some importance, if a shadow of its ancient influence. Although the area was partially Romanized and some of the population adopted the Roman religion (while fusing it with aspects of their beliefs and customs), the language and the ethnicity persisted for some time.

    People of Punic origin prospered again as traders, merchants and even politicians of the Roman Empire. Septimius Severus, emperor of Rome and a proud Punic, was said to speak Latin with a Punic accent. Under his reign Carthaginians rose to the elites and their deities entered their imperial cult. Carthage was rebuilt about 46 BCE by Julius Caesar and settlements in the surrounding area were granted to soldiers who had retired from the Roman army. Carthage once again prospered and even became the number-two trading city in the Roman Empire, until Constantinople took over that position.

    Visit the Phoenicia Ship Museum in Montrose Iowa. Donate Here:

    As Christianity spread in the Roman Empire, it was especially successful in Northwest Africa, and Carthage became a Christian city even before Christianity was legal. Saint Augustine, born in Thagaste (modern-day Algeria), considered himself Punic, and left some important reflections on Punic cultural history in his writing.[6] One of his more well known passages reads: “It is an excellent thing that the Punic Christians call baptism itself nothing else but ‘salvation’, and the sacrament of Christ’s body nothing else but ‘life’”.[7]

    The last remains of a distinct Punic culture probably disappeared somewhere in the chaos during the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The demographic and cultural characteristics of the region were thoroughly transformed by turbulent events such as the Vandals’ wars with Byzantines, the forced population movements that followed and the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century CE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punics

    Melungeon Heritage

    “Phoenicians are probably also the source of haplogroup X in the New World, and they are implicated in the mystery of the Melungeon people.” DNA Consultants’ Cherokee DNA Studies.

    1. Who Are the Melungeons?

    Melungeon is a term that first appeared in print in the 19th century, used in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina  to describe people of mixed ancestry. Melungeons were considered by outsiders to have a mixture of European, Native American, and African ancestry. Researchers have referred to Melungeons and similar groups as “tri-racial isolates,” and Melungeons have faced discrimination, both legal and social, because they did not fit into America’s accepted racial categories.

    2. Are there other groups of people similar to the Melungeons?

    As many as 200 different mixed ethnic groups have been identified in the eastern and southern United States, ranging from New York to East Texas. These include the Chestnut Ridge People of West Virginia, the Piscataway of Maryland, the Nanticokes and Moors of Delaware, the Ramapough Lenape Nation of New York and New Jersey, the Cubans and Portuguese of North Carolina, the Sumter Tribe of Cheraw Indians, and the Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians of South Carolina, and the Creoles and Redbones of South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana. These groups share a “mysterious” origin and have historically been stigmatized by neighbors. While each of the various groups possesses its own unique history and culture, historical and cultural evidence suggests a broad kinship between the groups and a possible common origin (especially for some families), though centuries of population dispersion and admixture have influenced the ethnic and social character of each of the separate populations.

    Video about DNA and Book of Mormon Evidence. https://bookofmormonevidence.org/dna-vs-book-of-mormon-incredible-new-evidence/

    3. Do these groups still exist?

    Through intermarriage and migration away from their home regions, many of these groups have lost their collective identity in the last half-century and have blended into the majority population. Some groups with a predominantly Indian heritage have organized as tribes, and a few have gained limited government recognition. Others, like the Melungeons, are recognizing and celebrating their unique multi-ethnic heritage.

    4. What does the word “Melungeon” mean?

    The traditional explanation for the word “Melungeon” is the French mélange, meaning “mixture.” Another proposed theory for the origin of “Melungeon” is the Afro-Portuguese term melungo, supposedly meaning “shipmate.” Yet another is the Greek termmelan, meaning “black.” Other researchers have speculated that “Melungeon” derives from the Turkish melun can, (meaning “cursed soul”); the Italian melongena (“eggplant,” referring to one with dark skin), or the old English term “malengin” (“guile; deceit”). Nearly everyone who has written about the Melungeons agrees that they fiercely resented the name. However, in recent years, many Melungeons proudly bear the name and acknowledge their heritage.

    5. What do Melungeons look like?

    The earliest descriptions of the Melungeons varied widely, so it is unlikely there was ever a “typical” Melungeon appearance. They were described variously as having European, Native American, or African features, a reflection of the mixed ethnic nature of the Melungeons. Over the years, Melungeons intermarried primarily with whites, so most of today’s Melungeons appear “white.” However, some Melungeons consider themselves African-American, while others have a distinctly Native American or Mediterranean appearance.

    6. How do people know who is a Melungeon?

    Melungeons, like most of the other tri-racial groups, are known by family names. The surnames of the first recorded Melungeons included Collins, Gibson, Mullins, Goins, Bunch, Bowlin, and Denham. Over the generations, many other surnames have become associated with the Melungeons. Of course, these surnames are common names in America, and are only considered “Melungeon” names in the areas where Melungeons live.

    7. Where do Melungeons live?

    During the 19th century the name Melungeon was applied to people of mixed ancestry in Virginia and the Carolinas, but in the 20th century it was used mostly in northeastern Tennessee.  Land and tax records show that some of the earliest Melungeon families in this region migrated from the tidewater and Piedmont regions of Virginia and North Carolina. The best-known Melungeon area is Hancock County, Tennessee, and particularly Newman’s Ridge and Blackwater (or Vardy) Valley. Other Melungeon communities or family groups were found in neighboring Hawkins County and Lee, Scott, and Wise Counties in Virginia. From these areas, Melungeons migrated and established communities in southeastern Kentucky, southeastern and middle Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, southern West Virginia, and as far north as eastern Ohio. Of course, not all Melungeon families stayed within their communities; many moved away where they would not face discrimination because of their ethnic heritage. During the 20th century, many Melungeons joined the outmigration from Appalachia to urban manufacturing centers.

    8. What sort of discrimination did Melungeons face?

    In a society where people were classified according to European concepts of race, the Melungeons, like other, similar groups, were in an awkward position. Neither white, black, nor Indian, their social status was below that of whites, but usually somewhat above that of African-Americans. Different groups faced different social and legal restrictions, depending on local customs and attitudes. In the 1840’s, several Melungeons were tried for illegal voting on the grounds that they were not white, and therefore ineligible to cast a ballot. However, they were acquitted. In Virginia, Melungeons were classified as “colored” by the Racial Integrity Act, which was in effect from 1924 to 1971. Most of the discrimination faced by Melungeons was social rather than legal; they were considered low-class, untrustworthy, and “tainted” by their African ancestry.

    9. Where did the Melungeons originate?

    That is the million-dollar question, the one that has fueled the imagination of journalists since the mid-19th century. Until recently, most scientists studying the Melungeons believed them to be – like most of the other tri-racial groups – the product of intermarriage between Anglo/Celtic Americans, Indians, and free African-Americans along the American frontier. Hancock County Melungeons, when first interviewed by outsiders about their heritage around 1890, defined themselves as Indian and Portuguese, but also acknowledged English and African ancestry. While most whites discounted the claim of Portuguese ancestry, believing it to be a means of denying African ancestry, generations of feature writers tapped into folklore and their own imaginations to develop theories to explain the origins of the Melungeons. Various writers suggested they were descendants of the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke Island, descendants of deserters from Hernando de Soto’s expedition, one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, descendants of shipwrecked pirates, or descendants of Carthaginian sailors. In each of these suggested scenarios, these overseas visitors intermarried with Indians and moved inland. Genetic studies have shown that Melungeons share genetic traits with populations in the Mediterranean, South Asia, and Middle East, as well as with northern Europeans, Native Americans, and African-Americans. Not all Melungeons share all these genetic traits; every family has its own unique ethnic history. These studies do not answer all of the questions about the origins of the Melungeons, of course. We cannot tell when these various ethnic components entered a particular family line. However, these findings do open the door to further speculation and study; the Melungeons’ origins are almost certainly more complex than originally thought.

    10. Was there a unique Melungeon culture?

    The Melungeons, like nearly all the other tri-racial groups, were culturally almost identical to their neighbors. Some Melungeons were fairly well off economically, but most worked on small farms – just like the whites in that region.

    11. Why are people now discovering their possible Melungeon ancestry?

    Even those who lived in Melungeon communities, or had close ties to those communities, often never heard the word “Melungeon” applied to themselves or their families; the term was considered an insult and was rarely said directly to the person it was describing. As Melungeon families and individuals migrated away from their home areas, they frequently wanted to leave the stigma of their ethnic heritage behind them. Their children and grandchildren were not told of their family’s heritage, since many considered it shameful, something to be hidden. Over the years, family legends about “an Indian great-grandmother” or “a Portuguese grandfather” seemed to explain the swarthy appearance of ancestors and descendents, but many genealogists found inexplicable gaps in their families’ histories, census designations for ancestors indicating “mulatto” or “free person of color,” and other mysteries.

    The rise of the Internet in the mid-1990s coincided with the publication of The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People by Brent Kennedy. This book suggested Turkish, Moorish, Jewish, Spanish, Portuguese, African, northern European, and Native American ancestry for the Melungeons, and theorized that the population of Melungeon descendents was much larger than previously assumed. Web pages and e-mail groups were devoted to the study of Melungeons, and the first Melungeon Union celebration was held in 1997. The Melungeon Heritage Association was formed in 1998 to facilitate research and disseminate information. In 2002 a joint resolution signed by presidents of MHA and the Vardy Community Historical Society agreed to cooperation between the two organizations, and made a statement of principles affirming kinship among all mixed ancestry groups.

    12. How can I find out if I have Melungeon ancestry?

    If you have a connection to a documented Melungeon family, you obviously have Melungeon ancestry. However, it can be very difficult to find a “documented” Melungeon family. Prior to 1900, the entire written record of Melungeons consisted of less than a dozen newspaper and magazine articles, nearly all focusing on the Hancock County group, and only a few individual Melungeons were identified in these articles.

    Researchers have identified several surnames as “Melungeon” names (see the surname lists elsewhere on this website). Again, these names are common in America, and only in areas where Melungeons lived were they associated with that population. If you find records of ancestors in these areas who have “Melungeon surnames,” there is a strong possibility you have Melungeon ancestry – particularly if some family members are listed as non-white in census reports.

    Remember, Melungeons did not begin to identify themselves as such until the mid-1960s. Their neighbors imposed the name on them, and their neighbors defined who was and who was not a Melungeon – and those definitions were not always consistent. There were no tribal rolls, no records identifying a certain group of people as Melungeons. As a result, most people will find it difficult to establish a Melungeon ancestry with any certainty.

    13. Can DNA testing establish a Melungeon ancestry?

    There is no “Melungeon gene.” Melungeons are an ethnic and racial mixture and genetic tests reflect that mixture. Furthermore, this mixture is different in each Melungeon family. DNA testing, combined with genealogical research, can provide clues that might suggest Melungeon ancestry.

    http://melungeon.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-melungeons/

    As you can imagine, there were many groups of people with mixed origin, but none more fabled and romanticized than the dark skinned, blue eyed Melungeons of the Appalachian region.  Legends were that they were survivors from the lost colony of Roanoke, or one of the lost Tribes of Israel. They were also speculated to be of Cherokee, gypsy, Turkish, Spanish, Phoenician, etc. decent. The legend also is that Elvis Presley descended from the melungeons.

    The following is taken from “The Melungeons: The Resurrection of A Proud People; An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America,”by Dr. N. Brent Kennedy (p. 140) https://melungeon.org/creoles-and-melungeons-more-important-than-ever-to-america-by-nick-douglas/

    The Spanish, of course left behind a multitude of place names and a populace descended from them. Even today, there can be found in New Mexico descendants of conversos who once came to New Mexico secretly practicing a truncated and furtive form of Judaism under a Christian veneer. Some are thank G-d returning to their Jewish roots.

    It would be an injustice not to mention the Native Americans, an assortment of many nationalities and languages who are the poorest of America’s ethnic groups. It would be a service to America if their traditions could be preserved and their economic foundation built up.

    Along with the many imigrants to America, are there other groups whose presence passes unnoted in the official histories of our country?

    It seems so. How many people give thought to the Melungeons ? Who are they? One of their web sites, Melungeons.com offers articles and links to the scholarship revolving around this fascinating group, whose origins are shrouded in mystery…

    “With his team of researchers, Dr Kennedy has found hundreds of words in local Indian dialects that have almost the same meaning in Turkish or Arabic. The Cherokee word for mother for example, is Ana Ta. In Turkish, the word for mother is also Ana-Ta.”

    The early records of non English immigration to North America help explain this phenomenon. The BBC article elaborates as follows.

    “When he began to research his ancestry, Dr Kennedy found evidence that first people to arrive in Appalachia, were not northern Europeans, but may have been Ottoman Turks. Portuguese settlers brought Turkish servants with them in the 16th Century. Sir Francis Drake unloaded hundreds of other Turks after he liberated them from the Spanish in 1587. Blood typing has confirmed close similarities between present day Melungeons and people of the Mediterranean region. What has now become known as the Kennedy theory is that these people pushed inland and settled down with American Indian women, to begin life as farmers.”

    Could Abraham Lincoln – not Barack Obama – be America’s first black president?

    It is claimed that Abraham Lincoln, who became America’s  16th President on this day in 1860, was a Melungeon; a person of European, African-American and Native American ancestry.

    Melungeons are typically believed to come from East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and eastern Kentucky.  Some come from the Appalachian region of the U.S. which spans over Canada and numerous states in the U.S.

    Like African-Americans, Melungeons also have a painful past in America – “have been maligned and denied their basic rights. They have been pushed off of fertile land. They have been barred from schools. They have been prohibited from voting,” according to The Washington Post.

    A Melungeon family circa 1900; teacher and nurse…Johnson City Press

    Lincoln’s Melungeon ancestry is said to come from his mother as explained in Melungeons: The Last Lost Tribe in America by Elizabeth Hirschman. The author stated, “That Abraham Lincoln was of Melungeon descent was first suggested, to my knowledge, by Brent Kennedy.” “Kennedy comments that Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks, was in all likelihood of Melungeon heritage, given several facts of her background.”

    According to Appalachian Histories & Mysteries, “Melungeons are considered to be bi- or tri-racial individuals, of varying and debatable ethnicities ranging from African to Jewish to European, living in the Appalachian region. These people have been particularly famous for living in small enclaves in Hawkins and Hancock Counties of Eastern Tennessee, Lee, Scott, and Wise Counties of Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina. Smaller communities of family groups were once known to live in Western South Carolina, Southern West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. According to the Melungeon Heritage Association, at least 200 other mixed-ethnic groups have been identified in the Eastern United States, such as the Guineas of West Virginia, the We-Sorts of Maryland, the Nanticokes and Moors of Delaware, the Jackson Whites of New York and New Jersey, the Cubans and Portuguese of North Carolina, the Turks and Brass Ankles of South Carolina, and the Creoles and Redbones of Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana.”

    CHEROKEE ARE MOORS

    DNA: PROOF CHEROKEE ARE MOORS (Berber is a name given to Native Moors (Mauri) of north Africa by Greco/Romans.) AND THAT MOORS TRAVERSED THIS LAND LONG BEFORE THE EUROPEAN!
    Posted on January 14, 2016 by mmwnews

    “The term “Moors” refers primarily to the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during the Middle Ages. The Moors initially were the indigenous Maghrebine Berbers. The name was later also applied to Arabs.” Wikipedia

    Moros y Cristianos festival in Oliva.

    DNA: PROOF CHEROKEE ARE MOORS AND THAT MOORS TRAVERSED THIS LAND LONG BEFORE THE EUROPEAN!

    “A Berber Connection to Cherokee Ancestry? By genealogy.com user September 04, 2009

    Thought I’d pass this along since Cherokee ancestry is fairly common in some lines of the Cross lineage.

    I was just reading an article by Brian Wilkes, a Cherokee language instructor, concerning the Cherokee/Berber connection. Here’s an excerpt and perhaps something to think about if you’re Cherokee mixed blood, considering DNA testing, or have gone through the DNA testing process.

    “Old Cherokee migration legends suggest an ancient connection with the Berbers of North Africa, Morocco.

    The Berbers are a tribal people whose lands once stretched from Mauritania on the Atlantic Ocean to Libya on the Mediterranean Sea and are related to the Phoeicians and Carthaginians.

    According to Mr. Wilkes, the DNA markers in most Cherokee mixed-bloods supports the legend of the Cherokee surviving a volcano and flood by sailing west on reed boats, following a seven-pointed star. The mountains were called Attala and since that time, the Cherokee have believed it’s best to live in or near mountains near cedar trees in case the world floods again..”
    http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/cross/7344/

    Anomalous Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in the Cherokee
    Tues, October 13, 2009

    Additional DNA Studies below!

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/americass-natives-have-european-roots/

    READ “Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA“

    This short version article is here and the long version may be downloaded here, titled “Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA” by Rod Meldrum effectively and powerfully addresses, and provides supporting evidence about the DNA questions you may have.

  • Hebrew Baptism Before Christ

    Hebrew Baptism Before Christ

     

    Purchase Hebraisms DVD by Wayne May here:

    Adam was Baptized

    We are all well aware that the Savior Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Christ was baptized not for redemption of sin, but to “fulfill all righteousness.”

    I doubt many Christian churches today even consider that baptism as an ordinance is eternal, just as the Priesthood is. The Church of Christ began during the time of Adam as Adam was baptized. Moses6:64-65.  The gospel of Christ was on the earth even when Christ Himself was in the sprit world with our Father in Heaven. Remeber all things which are temporal were at the beginning, spiritually upon the earth.

    “Moses received the Melchizedek Priesthood from his father-in-law, Jethro (D&C 84:6). Moses held the Melchizedek Priesthood until he was translated, at which time the keys of the greater priesthood went with him, and what remained with the people was an appendage to the Melchizedek Priesthood called the Aaronic Priesthood, a priesthood with limited authority. After the time of Moses, individual prophets were given the holy priesthood at various times by God, but it was restricted from the general populace.

    The Book of Mormon reports that Nephite prophets held the priesthood called after the order of the Son of God, the Melchizedek Priesthood (Alma 13:10). Those who had the authority directed the work of God among the people (Alma 29:13).” Source

    Remember however when the Melchisedek Priesthood was not on the earth, the Aaronic Priesthood was, which officiates in the ordinance of baptism.

    Search for Truth

    I am one who searches out many ideas and truths of life. For sure I know a very small bit of real truth, but I keep searching. You might say as a wonderful Apostle said below, I have a “questing spirit.”

    “I admire men and women who have developed the questing spirit, who are unafraid of new ideas as stepping stones to progress. We should, of course, respect the opinions of others, but we should also be unafraid to dissent – if we are informed. Thoughts and expressions compete in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth emerges triumphant. Only error fears freedom of expression.” – Apostle Hugh B. Brown, “A Final Testimony,” from An Abundant Life, 1999

    I don’t fear searching for truth, but I fear not knowing truth. That is why I delve into many things that many others may not consider, including what people may call conspiracies’ or tall tales, or myths, or mysteries. That is not to say I believe many of these things, but I touch on them briefly on occasion as I pray and study the scriptures which are the two most important things to know truth by. My discovery of truth usually starts with my prying question of, “does it make sense”, and if it does I pursue it until I think it is a possible truth or simply a tall tale. Moroni did tell us that we man know the “truth of all things”, did he not?

    Tickets here

    I try and follow the admonition of a Prophet of God who said, “You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.” Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives by President Russell M. Nelson

    Hebrews & Native Americans

    As I search for truth I try and always include the truth about my dear Lamanite brothers and sisters. They are a huge part of the House of Israel and I love then as Jacob, Nephi’s brother did.

    May we not forget our Hebrew brothers and sisters as we gather the dispersed of Israel. After all, Judah is Israel just as Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh are.

    I know the original Hebrews from the Tribe of Judah are also many of these Native Americans of the tribe of Manasseh and both are related as members of the House of Israel.

    Many Jew and Gentile fall short of the kingdom of God in our day. We Gentiles who have been blessed with the Book of Mormon need to be sure and share it with the Jew and Lamanite. “But, behold, in the last days, or in the days of the Gentiles—yea, behold all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, both those who shall come upon this land and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the earth, behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations.” 2 Nephi 27:1

    Again my “questing spirit” pushes me to ask the question, were the Hebrew people baptized? Did they once truly understand who the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph were? Did they ever believe in Christ as their Savior, or did they just misread the scriptures, or fall into unbelief? I know Christ loves us all so the plight of the Jew and the Lamanite will be rewarded one day. Below is some amazing information about the Hebrew and the Native American that I think you will enjoy.

    Native American Population 2022

    Brigham Young Teaching Native Americans

    “The nation’s indigenous people had a population of nearly 10 million before European settlers explored America. Their numbers began to fall rapidly shortly after that due to war and diseases brought by the settlers. Native Americans faced centuries of persecution and discrimination, losing their land and resources and being forced onto reservations that lacked the soil and natural resources needed to build and sustain their communities.

    Today, Native Americans still face threats from federal and state governments related to land-use and resource extraction. Native Americans have the highest poverty rate of any major racial group, with one in four people living below the poverty line.

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the current total population of Native Americans in the United States is 6.79 million, which is about 2.09% of the entire population. There are about 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the U.S.” Source

    Jewish world population increases to 15.2 million with 45.3 percent living in Israel

    (September 5, 2021 / JNS) The number of Jews worldwide stands at roughly 15.2 million, according to statistics released by the Jewish Agency for Israel on the eve of the Jewish new year 5782. That number is up from 15.1 million the last Jewish new year (5781).

    The number of Jews in Israel is nearly 6.9 million (compared to 6.8 million in 5781). The number of Jews living in the Diaspora is 8.3 million, of which 6 million are in the United States, according to an Israeli government press statement.

    The percentage of Jews living in Israel out of all the Jews in the world stands at 45.3 percent, an increase of half a percent over the previous year. The estimated number of Jews in the United States increased by 300,000 following a new survey by the Pew Research Center. The numbers include those who define themselves as Jews and don’t identify with another religion.” Source

    Elder Russell M. Nelson

    You can invite a friend to read the Book of Mormon. Explain that it is not a novel or a history book. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. Its very purpose is “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.”

    Each exemplary follower of Jesus Christ can become an effective member missionary. Members and full-time missionaries may walk arm in arm in bringing the blessings of the gospel to cherished friends and neighbors. Many of them are of Israel, now being gathered as promised. This is all part of the preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord. The Prophet Joseph Smith said “that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” The Book of Mormon teaches of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and is the instrument by which God will fulfill His ancient promise to gather scattered Israel in these latter days. (Be Thou an Example of the Believers, October 2010 General Conference)

    Alvin Smith was the oldest brother of Joseph Smith Jr.

    “Alvin is portrayed in the film Joseph Smith: The  Prophet of the Restoration (2011) as proclaiming to Joseph “I cannot believe that God would want to save but just a few of us.”

    To Alvin’s words, I humbly append “I cannot believe that God would want to save but just Ephraim and Manasseh.”

    Surely the Lord also desires to save Judah.” – Tom Irvine

    Behold, I am the law, and the blight. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life. 3 Nephi 15:9

    The Book of Mormon written in Hebrew by Tom Irvine
    Disclaimer: This translation is being made by Tom Irvine, an Indigo child and amateur student of Hebrew. Tom Irvine is neither a prophet nor an apostle. This is a partial translation which is part of an ongoing effort. This translation is not endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This document was last revised August 20, 2017. It should be used for prayerful, personal study only. Please provide feedback via Email: tom@irvinemail.org

    The Book of Mormon written in Hebrew by Tom Irvine

    “Jesus the Messiah is the Torah made flesh and dwelt among us.” Synthesis of 3 Nephi 15:9 & John 1:14

    Prophet Joseph Smith

    Joseph Smith wrote, “Those engaged in seeking the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah, cannot fail to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord and have the choicest blessings of Heaven rest upon them in copious effusions . . . He [the Lord] will endow you with power, wisdom, might, and intelligence, and every qualification necessary; while your minds will expand wider and wider, until you can circumscribe the earth and the heavens, reach forth into eternity, and contemplate the mighty acts of Jehovah in all their variety and glory” (History of the Church, 4:128-129). Source:

    What is the history of baptism or the baptismal ceremony?

    “John the Baptist baptized Jews before Christ came on the scene. Where did he come by the practice of baptism?

    Depending on which Reformer you agree with, most Christians view baptism either as the means of salvation and entry into the church or as a sign of Christ’s redemptive work in the converted. In both cases, the new believer is considered wholly regenerated, and baptism seals this radical change.

    But in first-century Judaism, baptism had a different meaning. In the book of Leviticus, God instructs Jews to cleanse themselves from ritual impurities, contracted through such acts as touching a corpse or a leper. Washing primarily fulfilled the legal requirements of ritual purity so that Jews could sacrifice at the Temple. Later, as “God-fearers” or “righteous” Gentiles expressed their desire to convert to Judaism, priests broadened the rite’s meaning, and along with circumcision, performed baptism as a sign of the covenant given to Abraham.

    While Christians may relate to baptism as a sign of covenant and purity before God, these still don’t bridge the gap to John the Baptist’s “baptism of repentance”-or to the messianic thrust of his message. While there’s still room for speculation, one possible bridge is the community at Qumran-the ascetic desert sect best known for creating the Dead Sea scrolls. Like orthodox Jews, the Qumran sectarians baptized for reasons of ritual purity. But their Manual of Discipline, or the community rule, also stated that a person could not become clean if he failed to obey God’s commandments.” Source

    Editor’s Note: In my opinion there is no need to speculate. We believe the Church of Jesus Christ has been on the earth since the time of Adam. As we see scripture above, we know Adam was baptized and Christ was an eternal Spirit who helped create the world and has always been with us as the very God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, just as today’s Hebrews believe from the Torah (First four books of the Old Testament written by Moses).

    What is the symbolism of Noah and the flood?

    “God uses symbols to teach gospel truths. In the New Testament, Peter explained that the flood was a “like figure” or symbol of baptism (1 Peter 3:20–21). Just as the earth was immersed in water, so we must be baptized by water and by the Spirit before we can enter the celestial kingdom. Also, Noah himself was a symbol of Christ. It was necessary for any living creature who wished to be saved to come “unto Noah into the ark” (Genesis 7:9, 15).” Source

    HEBREW ORDINANCE OF WATER BAPTISM

    The word “Baptism” is a transliteration of the Greek word BAPTIZO which means to immerse. In Hebrew it is referred to as a MIKVEH – an immersion. Basically it is an immersion into another substance, for the purpose of being saturated by it, such as water in this instance. The new covenant also presents the immersion of a believer “in the Spirit of God” and also “with Fire”. Matthew 3:11

    THE ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM

    Baptism, as it has been known in the gospel age, is not a new ordinance. In the text of Hebrews 6: 1-2, it is “baptisms” – plural, as there is more than one type of baptism in scripture. These are — 1. The baptism of creation to life – Genesis 1 & 7; 2 Peter 3: 6-7 2. The baptism of Moses from Egypt – Exodus 14:19-31; 1 Corinthians 10: 1-4 3. The baptism of Ritual Cleansing – Leviticus 8: 5-9; Numbers 8: 6-7; 19:13, 20 4. The baptism of John unto repentance – Matthew 3: 1-6 5. The baptism of Y’shua into His Body – Romans 6:3-5 6. The baptism in the Spirit of God for ministry – Matthew 3:11 & Luke 3:16 7. The baptism of fire for purification – Matthew 3:11 & Luke 3:16; 1 Peter 4:12-16In the beginning, the creation in its disordered state was immersed in water and it was through the operation of the Spirit brooding upon the waters that He brought forth order out of chaos, and created new life. Genesis 1:1-10The ordinance of immersion originated at creation in the birthing of the earth out of its submerged state under the water. When Yahweh gathered the waters together into seas, He caused the earth to be resurrected out of its watery grave which in effect, was the ‘womb’ from which it came forth. The word used for ‘gathered waters’ in verse 10 is “mikveh”. The mikveh waters were actually the womb of creation from which He brought forth new life out of its former state of ‘death’.Water is always used as a cleansing, purifying agent in His purposes to initiate a change from one state of existence to another. It was the element of water that was used in conjunction with the Spirit’s power upon the waters, initiated by the Word of God that effected the purposes of Father God. This is the prototype of all other forms of baptism or ritual immersions.The creation was again cleansed and purified by water with the flood of Noah’s day. Peter calls this a baptism of the earth. There are two elements used by Yahweh for cleansing – water and fire. The earth was cleansed by water the first time, during the flood. The second time it will be cleansed by fire (immersed in fire), as it is written in 2 Peter 3:6-7 and Matthew 3:12.The whole nation of Israel was baptised “into Moses” when they went through the Red Sea, which separated them and cleansed them from the influence of Egypt, which represented the world and its lifestyle, before being taken to the promised land. The waters of the Red Sea allowed them to pass from one state of existence to another, from the status of bondage and slavery to that of freedom with the status of sonship; to become a nation with a unique calling and destiny. Exodus Chs. 12-14; 19:10

    Having gone through the mikveh of the Red Sea, they were commanded to undergo ritual cleansing before approaching Yahweh and entering into covenant with Him at Sinai (Exodus 19:10). This became an ordained ritual for all necessary natural and spiritual cleansing, and for all acts of consecration and spiritual offerings. Leviticus 14:8-9; 13:54-58; 1:7-9, 10-13; 8:18-21It applied to all changes of status in life where one progressed from one state of existence to another, as a process of cleansing and renewal for the transition to the new appointment or position in life. It is an acknowledgment that Yahweh God is the source of all life and it is a commitment to live from the enabling which He imparts for the new status in life.It is undertaken before marriage and before the Bar Mitzvah, before deeper consecration or religious study, after life-changing experiences or enlightenment that initiate a change in one’s spiritual status or calling. It is also taken before consecrated days.In undergoing the mikveh waters, the person is considered to have been saturated by the Spirit of God and to be “re-born” or “born again” by His creative power, so as to enter into a more elevated state of spiritual life for their new status. John 3:3, 10The priests were required to undergo ritual immersion when being consecrated into the priesthood and also after that, in cases where they would become defiled by contact with that which was unclean. Leviticus 8:5-9; Numbers 8:6-7; 19:13, 20

    The Talmud, Mishnah tells us that the high priest immersed himself five times and washed his hands and feet ten times during the sacrifices and in ministering the office on Yom Kippur ( Moed, Yoma 3 Mishneh 3). The Mikveh was the means of maintaining a state of ritual purity before a holy God. https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Hebrew_Roots/The_original_foundation/Baptism

    THE JEWISH ROOTS OF BAPTISM ONE FOR ISRAEL

    A Jewish man called Yochanan was baptizing people in the Jordan River in first century Israel, including his cousin who would later become world famous: Yeshua of Nazareth. Many Jewish people responded to the call of this Jewish man to immerse themselves in the river as a sign of repentance, and a desire to get right with God. Some of the Pharisees were also among them. Did Yochanan invent baptism at this time? Or was it part of Jewish tradition and practice before that?

    No he didn’t, and yes it was.

    And the Hebrew word for an immersion pool built for this purpose, “mikveh”, also points us in the right direction in understanding deeper meaning in the practice.

    IMMERSION IN JEWISH TRADITION

    The Jewish laws which had been passed down orally from generation to generation had several things to say about the need for ritual washing, and the most desirable places to do it.[1] There are six different options suggested that satisfy the requirements, starting with pits or cisterns of standing water as acceptable but least desirable, moving up to pits that are refreshed by rainwater as slightly more desirable, then the custom-built ritual bath, or “mikveh” with 40 se’ahs (300 liters) or more of water, then fountains, then flowing waters.
    But “living waters” (as found in natural lakes and rivers) which were considered to be the best possible situation.

    The Mishnah specifies what makes the water clean or unclean, and expresses a preference for a larger, fresher body of water, “For in it persons may immerse themselves and immerse others”.

    So Yochanan immersing people in the “Living waters” of the River Jordan was perfectly within Jewish law and practice at the time.

    The Essenes, a strict Jewish sect, were doing it too out in the Judean Desert. But why were Jewish people immersing themselves in water? Is baptism in the Jewish Scriptures? Well, sort of, yes.

    RITUAL BATHING IN THE BIBLE

    “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the LORD, they shall wash with water, lest they die. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them– to him and his descendants throughout their generations.” Exod 30:17-21

    The priests had to be ritually clean (tahor) in order to serve at the tabernacle, and Israelites who had become ritually unclean (tamay) had to restore their situation with the passing of time and bathing their whole body in fresh, ritually clean (tahor) water, according to Leviticus 15.

    Later, when the temple had been built, it was necessary for everyone to be immersed in a mikveh to become ritually clean before entering the temple. There are many ancient mikva’ot (plural of mikveh) to be seen in Jerusalem, and it is clear to see the two sets of steps for each one – a set of steps going down to the mikveh in an impure (tamay) state on one side, and on the other side, steps where the pilgrim will emerge fresh and ritually clean (tahor).

    WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE IN THE TIME OF JESUS?

    Following the upheaval of the 1967 war, archaeologists were presented with the opportunity to excavate parts of the upper city of Jerusalem, giving a new window into daily life in ancient times. Many of the houses were grand and spacious, with their own water cisterns and ritual baths in the basements.[2] Some houses were found to have had several of these mikva’ot, since it is thought that as well as providing for the household (which could even be up to fifty people) they would have been able to welcome and host pilgrims arriving for the Jewish feasts, catering for many more. Many of this upper city aristocracy were among the priestly class, who would have to stay in a state of ritual purity as much as possible, and so would have to immerse themselves in a mikveh frequently. Archaeologists also believe that the pools of Siloam and Bethsaida could have been used for ritual bathing in the Second Temple period for those visiting Jerusalem for the high holy days.

    So immersion in a mikveh was quite common at the time of Yeshua, but the New Testament also describes baptisms taking place not only in rivers, but in any available body of water. In Acts 8, we read of a visiting pilgrim from Ethiopia, who came to believe in Yeshua as he read Isaiah on the way home:

    “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” (verse 36).

    By this point baptism had come to signify a decision to accept Yeshua as Messiah and Lord.

    https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/was-baptism-originally-jewish/

    M.M. Noah’s Gathering & the Mormon Gathering: 30 Parallels

    In the near future a more extensive and fully documented tabulation of all the significant parallels between Major Noah’s “Ararat” plan and the Mormons’ “American Zion” plan will be posted on this web-page. What is now offered below is simply a preliminary list, compiled in no special order and without documented references to early Mormon history and scriptures.

    Hopefully this preliminary listing will help to generate some interest in the subject among students of various American “gatherings of Israel” and of the Mormon “Israelite Gathering” in particular. Similar parallels might then be compiled for the early American gathering programs of Conrad Beissel, Israel Eckerlin, the Moravians, Nathaniel Wood, and even of the notions respecting pre-millennial gathering as expressed by writers such as Richard Brothers and the Rev. Ethan Smith. If enough people will submit their own comments and insights to the site host, perhaps this entire topic can eventually be put into a better perspective for future study and discussion.

    Both plans made use of a member of the Jewish Siexas family of New York. (Major Noah’s private secretary was Mr. A. B. Siexas, while the Mormons employed Joshua Siexas as a teacher at Kirtland 9Letter Below)– both were grandsons of Isaac Siexas of Portugal.) The leaders of both plans studied Hebrew under a member of the Siexas family of New York. (Major Noah studied the language under the tutelage of Moses Siexas, while Joseph Smith’s Hebrew teacher was the nephew of Moses: Joshua Siexas.) http://www.olivercowdery.com/gathering/ararat2.htm

    Certificate from Joshua Seixas, 30 March 1836

    Introduction“I, Mordecai Manuel Noah… by the grace of God, Governor and Judge of Israel,
    have issued this my proclamation, announcing to the Jews throughout the world
    that an asylum is prepared and hereby offered to them…”
    (M. M. Noah, 1825)

    Who Was Mordecai M. Noah and What Was “Ararat”?
    Major Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) was a noted American journalist, playwright, diplomat, New York politician, and Jewish advocate. In 1825 this utopian proto-Zionist proposed and planned a gathering of the world’s “Israelites” to western New York state in order to establish a great city and a powerful theocracy — for the protection and advancement of God’s ” chosen people.” Although the goals of Noah’s 1825 project was never realized, many elements of his “City of Refuge” plan for the restoration of Israel were revived, Christianized, and implemented by the early Mormons in their own attempts to build a North American “Zion.” The Mormons originally planned the building of their “City of Refuge” at Independence, Missouri, but that goal was beset by various obstacles and they moved its location — first to Kirtland Ohio, then to Nauvoo, Illinois, and finally, to Salt Lake City in Utah.

    Major Noah did not live to see his dreams for an Israelite gathering come true, either in the New World or in the Old. By the end of his life he, like the Mormons, had shifted his sacred geography but had not lost track of his original mission. Quietly abandoning his earlier hope to incorporate the American Indians into his Israelite utopia, Noah became a proto-Zionist whose eyes were finally fixed on Turkish Palestine as the proper place to gather his dispersed brethren. Mordecai M. Noah was not unaware of the Mormons’ imitative gathering activity on their own behalf and for the restoration of the supposed Israelite Indians. As a newspaper editor he now and then directed a few choice words in the direction of these Johnny-come-lately Saints, but mostly he simply chose to ignore them and their Christianized mutation of his old Grand Island scheme. Had Noah himself taken more trouble to respond to the Mormons’ zionic activities, perhaps their mimicry of his own failed “Restoration” would not have gone unnoticed for many decades. Noah avoided the chagrin of making such an admission and today practically everybody has forgotten both him and his land promotion of 1825. Now, 175 years later, the time has arrived for people to take a new look at Major Mordecai M. Noah and his proposed gathering of Israel to “the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,” — which he translated to read: “the land of the (American) Eagle!”

    JEWISH RITES-BAPTISM.

    New York, Nov. 20, 1845 M. M. Noah, Esq.,

    M. M. Noah, Esq

    Dear Sir: While reading your very interesting illustrations of Hebrew laws and usages, published in The Tribune, I was rather surprised to meet the declaration that baptism was a Hebrew rite; and I beg leave to say that I shall be gratified by being enabled to see the evidences of the fact, and to have your opinion of the origin of the rite. My attention having been directed to the investigation of the Ancient Mysteries, have become satisfied that a species of Baptism was practised [practiced] therein, before the foundations of the Hebrew Commonwealth, in India, Egypt, Greece and Britain; and as those Mysteries, in the remote antiquity of their institution, were intended to preserve a pure worship of the Deity, and the transmission of the traditions of the early ages of the human family, the ritual must have had one common origin, but I was not aware that baptism had been incorporated into the Jewish rites.

    There is also another point which I wish to understand better. It is this: “If she still refused to change her faith, or become a proselyte of the gate, or to observe the seven precepts of the sons of Noah;” &c. What are the seven precepts referred to, and whence were they derived? The old Constitutions of the Freemasons speak of the “three principles of Noah,” and it seems probable that the three and the seven descend from the same source. Undoubtedly many of your sources of information are contained in what to me are sealed books, or I would only trouble you for the references, and hope you will pardon me for thus attempting to give you additional labor.

    I am, dear sir, respectfully yours,

    JAMES HERRING,
    Grand Sec’y Grand Lodge S. N. Y. Howard House, N. Y.
    M. M. Noah’s Reply.

    I shall proceed cheerfully to reply to Mr. Herring’s questions seriatim.

    Circumcision and baptism were the initiatory rites for the admission of Hebrew children into the established religion; and these two rites were inseparable from the earliest periods, but they are not both of the same divine authority. The impression I know prevails, that baptism received its original form, and derived its observance from the apostle John, who baptized Jesus in the Jordan, but it is evident that the baptism by John was the induction to a new faith and not a new practice, Jesus, born a Jew, had received the initiatory rites in infancy, and understood them well;. Maimenides-great authority always among Jews and Christians, as a wise interpreter of the law- says, (Issue Biah Cap. 13.) Israel was admitted into the covenant by three things: by Circumcision, by baptism and by sacrifice. Circumcision was in Egypt, as it is said, none uncircumcised shall eat the passover. Baptism was in the wilderness, before the giving of the law, as it is said, “Thou shalt sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their garments;” and sacrifice as it is said, “and he sent the young men of the Children if Israel, and they offered burnt offerings, they offered them for all Israel.”

    Jacob (Israel) and Baptism

    The origin of baptism dated from the time of Jacob, when he received into the church the young women of Sichem, and other heathens who lived with him. Jacob said to his family, (Gen xxxv. 2,) and to all that were with him, “put away from you the strange Gods and be ye clean, and change your garments.” Eben Ezra, also a great authority, applies the words “be ye clean” to the washing and purification of the body;-hence the origin of baptism.

    It is certain that heathens who become converts to the religion of the Jews, were admitted by circumcision, and baptism was inseparably joined to it.

    “Whenever,” says Maimenides, “a Heathen is willing to be joined to the covenant of Israel, and place himself under the wings of the Divine majesty, and take the yoke of the law upon him voluntarily, Circumcision, Baptism, and Ablution are required.” This practice continued to the reign of Solomon; but at that period, other nations became proselytes in such vast numbers that they were received by baptism or washing only. Some time elapsed, say thirty days, between circumcision and baptism, in order to give time for the wound to heal; the child was then brought to a running stream, called “gathering of the waters,” and plunged in. If a man, the Triumviri or the Judicial Consistory charged with this duty, when placed in the water, instructed him in some of the weightier obligations of the law, and plunged him in, so that every part of the body was immersed, not the tip of a finger was left exposed;-hence the difference between sprinkling and immersion in baptism. If an Israelite, says Maimenides, finds a Heathen infant and baptizes him for a proselyte, he becomes a member of the church, and baptism was always administered by persons regularly ordained, or appointed for that purpose, and witnesses and written testimony were necessary to prove the fact. Proselytes however were unwillingly made at all times, for many were tenacious of their old customs, and fell again to idolatry, so that finally Baptism was gradually abandoned, and it is only now practiced when a christian female desires to become a Jewess, and then under very considerable restrictions and ceremonies.

    You will thus perceive that the rite of baptism dates from the time of Jacob, and by the wisest interpreters of the law, was pronounced a Jewish rite and followed circumcision.

    Editors note: This is very interesting that the Hebrew has believed that baptism began with Jacob. That would be as early as 1892 BC that Jacob and Esau were born according to Johnpratt.com. The prophet Eber who is the man where we get the name Hebrew from, lived in about 2275 BC and Abraham born in about 2052 BC to give you a reference.

    “A Proselyte of the Gate,” is the next point about which you ask for information. There were two kinds of proselytes-the first of the covenant-the second of the Gate. The first, though of gentile birth, were admitted to all the privileges of the Jews; they worshipped in the same Court of the Temple with the Hebrews, while others were prohibited, and were partakers of all privileges, Divine and human. The proselytes of the Gate were Gentiles, who were admitted to the worship of the God of Israel, and the hopes of a future life, but who were not circumcised. These proselytes, although permitted to worship in the Temple, could not enter the same Court with the Proselytes of the covenant, but were deemed unclean and a special court assigned to them, called the “Court of the Gentiles”-they had a distinct place where the law was expounded to them, they were not denizens of Jerusalem. In the New Testament, Proselytes of the Covenants are called merely Proselytes, and Proselytes of the Gate are called worshipers [worshippers]; and it is a curious fact, and but little known, that the first proselytes to Christianity were the Proselytes of the Gate. Their condition being free and unconstrained, mere semi-Jews, the transition to another faith was easy and natural, and as they were most numerous in the Roman States, they were the first cause of the spreading of the gospel; although Jesus of Nazareth never addressed himself to them, but always to his brethren who, like himself, were born Jews, and were not so by adoption.

    The seven precepts of the sons of Noah, of which, as you say, Masonry knows only three, commonly called the Noachides, are as follows:

    I. A Renunciation of all Idols;
    II. The worship of the true and only God;
    III. To commit no murder;
    IV. Not to be defiled by incest;
    V. To avoid rapine, theft and robbery;
    VI. To administer justice;
    VII. Not to eat flesh with blood in it.

    This was the Common Law that prevailed from the time that Noah left the ark unto the arrival of the Jews at the foot of Mount Sinai. The law of Moses is the codification of the Common Law, as given by the sons of Noah, amplified, extended, and made to apply in justice and in mercy, in good faith and principle, to the whole civilized world which now live under those laws, with some immaterial local amendments.

    I am, dear sir, Yours, &c., &c. M. M. N.

    REMARKS.

    There is so much said about the essentials for salvation, that we cannot well pass an article like the foregoing without remarks. The world, in its age, or dotage, seems to have lost the true points of salvation. Paul said to Timothy: “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purposes and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began; But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

    Now if “life and immortality was brought to light through the gospel,” according to the purpose of grace, which was GIVEN TO US BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN, all righteous men must have been partakers of the same glory. By reading and comparing the world of God we find that the ordinances of salvation never vary, though there may have been sundry temporal rites, and sacrifices, by the law, which were instituted in the days of the rebellion of Israel, and others, to act as a schoolmaster to bring persons back to the simplicity of the gospel.

    The gospel, or tidings of salvation has never changed: Repentance and baptism for remission of sin; and the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, as a comforter to guide unto all truth, are just as necessary to eternal life as the elements are to compose the globe. Paul very wisely says:

    And the scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

    Noah was a preacher of righteousness, and, of course, must have understood what was necessary to save souls. Nor is it less a matter of fact that “righteous Abel,” had and practiced the same glorious knowledge. What a singular figure many of this generation cut, with all their boasted light and intelligence, in inquiring into the ancient modes of worship and discussing and doing away, or “changing the ordinances,” in order to show the people of these last days how wise, gracious and self saving they are?

    Besides repentance, baptism, reception of the Holy Ghost, and many other essentials, the UNION of male and female, both temporal and spiritual, is of as much importance before God as all the rest; for the man is not without the woman, neither is the woman without the man in the Lord. And again what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder, for the especial reason, that all contracts for time and eternity, have to be made while we sojourn in the flesh: “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but the great lineage, through the priesthood, and the everlasting Covenant sealed on earth, and sealed in heaven, continues throughout generations.

    Editor’s Note: What beautiful teachings from a dear Jewish Man, Mordecai M. Noah, who even believed as we do today in Faith, Baptism, the Holy Ghost and Eternal Marriage. This Church of ours, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. It was founded by the Savior himself before the world was known, and there are many wonderful faiths in Christianity and Judaism who believe some of these same truths.

    Another important point which the Gentile world, have reduced to a practice beyond the Lord’s wisdom, is the disconnection of kindred. This has been done from the rules or statutes which governed Israel after they had rejected the gospel, which was broken upon the stone tables: and as we are afterwards informed, the Lord gave them statutes not good. All right; the law was added because of transgression.

    Who does not know that Abel, Noah and Abraham, were as well qualified to teach the gospel, and the true principles of salvation, both temporal and spiritual, as Moses, Elijah, or Paul? Who does not know that Noah’s children, saved in the Ark, had to marry their own kindred: And who does not know that Adam’s children, brothers and sisters, were joined in holy matrimony, as well as their Father and Mother, who was “bone of my bone!”

    Now, to do the Almighty justice, we suppose that he was just as wise in the beginning, or in the days of the flood, as in the days of Israel, or the apostles, and should the “great restitution of all things spoken of by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began,” begin to be realized before this generation ends, who will deny the right of God to fulfil [fulfill] his own words?

    As to the cogitations of M. M. Noah, and ten thousand more, they are as the drop of the bucket; not one rises up and brings forth his strong reasons, to show that God is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, and that His celestial laws are eternal.” M.M. Noah

     

  • Hebrew Evidence in North America

    Hebrew Evidence in North America

    There are so many connections with the Ancient Jewish people and the Tribe of Judah here in the United States of America. We know Hebrew roots are all over the United States in the writings of amazing historians. Many connect the Hebrews in the USA from 1000 BC to 400 AD and many say the Native Americans speak of a earlier time where white people were a great culture before them.

    Writing in 1851, E. G. Squier says that in the region: “Human bones of men, women, and children of both sexes were thrown together promiscuously by the thousands.” He notes large quantities of pottery, pipes, flint arrow-heads, stone hatchets and other implements were also found there. He further states that the ancient relics unearthed in the vicinity (which he estimates to be several hundred years old) showed considerable evidence of Hebrew origin. (See E. G. Squier, Antiquities of New York, 1851, pp. 137-138.)

    “There has been a lot of talk from intellectuals about various hoaxes purported to be associated with ancient Hebrew stones and script found in North America. It makes sense that when Lehi landed in North America he and his culture would have left behind evidence of his Jewish and Israelite heritage. Since nothing has been found in South and Central America, the intellectuals want to condemn anything that may have been found in North America. Of the 8-10 evidences found in North America related to Hebrew, the scholars refute ALL OF THEM as hoaxes!. That seems way to easy to just out of hand condemn any evidence. That’s what people do when they can’t explain things. Today’s science is not engaged in finding new truths, but in finding new pet theories.

    Since no new “Scientific Law” has been discovered and proven in over 100 years, the scientists are now propping up their new “theories” as if they are true. Take for example the theory of evolution. Last time I heard it is still a theory and has never been proven to be a law. What about the theory of magma in the center of the earth? It has been shown in Dean Sessions book that it is more likely that water is at the center of the earth? I’m not a scientist but just an ordinary man who likes to have science and history just “make sense”. What about the intellectuals that say Noah’s flood was not universal or was a myth? What about those who say Adam was not the first man created on this earth? I would rather ask the simple question of, “does it make common sense” rather than listen to many intellectuals who claim to know the unknown.

    I offer this information below as wonderful information to take to heart. Learn and listen, search and pray and things will make sense to you. By all means I don’t want you to believe me as I like you am only one who loves the Lord and tries daily to learn His truths that He is sharing with us. Stay close to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and follow the Prophet and Apostles in all you do. I have a witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I also know as Moroni promised that I. “may know the truth of all things.” Rian Nelson FIRM Foundation

    Hebrew and the Native American

    While listening to the remarks of Brother Ivins, referring to a book that was written by one of our enemies, in which the statement is made that there is not a particle of evidence to show that there is any trace of the Hebrew among the people who anciently inhabited this country, and that there is no evidence that would go to prove that the Book of Mormon is true. I was reminded of a little item of evidence that came under my observation while I was in the City of London.

    A gentleman there, to whom a very dear friend of mine, Col. Alex. G. Hawes, had given me a letter, kindly invited a number of newspaper men to his home to meet me. I am very sorry that the newspaper men declined the honor; but I had the privilege of meeting with this man and his family, and a few friends, and conversing with them. One of his friends had been a member of the British legation at Constantinople, and had spent a considerable portion of his life there. He had traveled all over the holy land, and was familiar with the people and their customs. Among other things, he said: “Mr. Grant, I was astonished beyond measure, when I visited Canada, to find there oriental patterns woven in beads, by the American Indians. They were the same patterns that were woven in rugs, in the oriental countries.

    I have traveled extensively, and I had never seen those oriental patterns in any part of the world except in the holy land, until I found them among the North American Indians. Those patterns have been handed down for hundreds of years, from generation to generation ; they are kept in families, and can be found nowhere else; and how under the heavens those Indians, who have no connection with the people of the holy land, should have the same patterns is a mystery to me.” “Well, mv friend,” I said, “if I were to inform you that the forefathers of these American Indians came from the city of Jerusalem, that would explain it, wouldn’t it?” He replied, “Well, of course, it would.” I asked him if he had ever read the Book of Mormon. He said, “No.” “Well, it will be my pleasure to send you a copy, and from it you will learn that the forefathers of the American Indians came from Jerusalem.“

    “Well,” he said, “that explains the mystery; I am much obliged for the book.” Now, the one thing for us to do, as Latter-day Saints, is to be loyal, to be true, to be patriotic, to be honest with God; then we need have no fear of what the world may say about us. We have the truth, and we know it, thank God; we know it, though the world may not know it. Let us follow the admonition of the Savior, and let our light so shine that other men seeing our good deeds shall glorify God.” ELDER HEBER J. GRANT 79th Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints April 4th, 5th, and 6th, 1909, page 111-113

    Pre-Columbian Hebrews from the House of Israel

    Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum Page 546

    Orson Pratt saw the Decalogue Stone found in 1860

    Found 1860 Licking, OH by David Wyrick
    “I have seen that sacred stone. It is not a hatched up story. I heard tell of it as being in the Antiquarian Society, or rather, as it is now called, the Ethnological Society, in the City of New York. I went to the Secretary of that Society, and he kindly showed me this stone, of which I have been speaking, and being acquainted with modern Hebrew, I could form some kind of an estimate of the ancient Hebrew, for some of the modern Hebrew characters do not vary much in form from the ancient Hebrew. At any rate we have enough of ancient Hebrew, that has been dug up in Palestine and taken from among the ruins of the Israelites east of the Mediterranean Sea, to form some kind of an estimate of the characters that were in use among them; and having these characters and comparing them, I could see and understand the nature of the writing upon these records. They were also taken to the most learned men of our country, who, as soon as they looked at them, were able to pronounce them to be not only ancient Hebrew, but they were also able to translate them and pronounced them to be the Ten Commandments. This, then, is external proof, independent of the Scriptural proofs to which I have alluded, in testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

    Now, our modern Hebrew has many points; it has also many additional characters not found in the ancient Hebrew. These additional characters have been made since these colonies left Jerusalem. Do you find on these ancient writings any of these modern characters that have been introduced during the last two thousand four hundred years? Not one. Do you find any Hebrew points representing vowels? Not one; and all the new consonants that have been introduced during the last two thousand four hundred years were not found upon this stone to which I have referred, showing plainly that it must have been of very ancient date.

    Five years after the discovery of this remarkable memento of the ancient Israelites on the American continent, and thirty-five years after the Book of Mormon was in print, several other mounds in the same vicinity of Newark were opened, in several of which Hebrew characters were found.
    Among them was this beautiful expression, buried with one of their ancient dead, “May the Lord have mercy on me a Nephite.” It was translated a little Different—“Nephel.” Now we well know that Nephi, who came out of Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ, was the leader of the first Jewish colony across to this land, and the people, ever afterwards, were called “Nephites,” after their inspired prophet and leader. The Nephites were a righteous people and had many prophets among them; and when they were burying one of their brethren in these ancient mounds, they introduced the Hebrew characters signifying, “May the Lord have mercy on me a Nephite.” This is another direct evidence of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, which was brought forth and translated by inspiration some thirty-five years before this inscription was found.” Journal of Discourses, Vol.13, Pg.131, Orson Pratt, April 10, 1870

    Nephi= Noph= Memphis

    “The word Nephi may come from the Egyptian city of N-ph, transliterated into Hebrew as Noph, which appears in the Old Testament in several places, and translated into English as Memphis. Actually, Hebrew in Nephi’s day (600 BC) was written without vowels, so it would be nph in Egyptian letters transliterated into nph in Hebrew letters when the Egyptian city we now call Memphis was referred to in the Old Testament.” Smith’s Bible Dictionary

    “JOSEPHUS SAYS the Egyptian called their Creator ‘Kneph,’ ‘Noub,’ or ‘Nour.’ Reynolds points out that ancient variants of the name of Nephi include Knephi, Kneph, Noub, Nouv, Knouphis, Nebo, Naba, Nechi, Necho and others. These variants are found in many of the American Indian languages.” George Reynolds, Commentary on the Book of Mormon

    Noph means “Memphis; ancient capital of Egypt (Isa. 19:13; Jer. 2:16; 44:1; 46:14, 19; Ezek. 30:13, 16;” LDS Bible Dictionary page 739

    “NEPHI: This is also an Egyptian name, usually given as Knephi, and transliterated into Hebrew as Nebi. It means ‘prophet’ or one who speaks with God. The great Osiris, one of the Egyptian gods, was called Nephi or Knephi and the city in his honor was n-ph (vowels always had to be supplied). It is the city we know today as Memphis, located across the Nile from Cairo, but it is referred to by its original name of Noph (a variant of Nephi) in the writings of Hosea, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.” Treasures from the Book of Mormon, Volume One By W. Cleon Skousen

    “Five Hebrew letters are cut in the forehead. When Dr. Lillenthal saw it, he instantly decided the last three letters were nun, pe, lamed…” Dr. Bernard Illowy gives it as his judgement that the words are Yerachamehu Adonai Nephel, May the Lord have mercy on him, an untimely birth, or an abortion.” This Land: America 2,000 B. C. to 500 A. D. by Wayne May

    Read about some of these historians and their findings about the Hebrew in North America

    James Adair
    Ethan Smith
    David Cusick
    Arthur Parker
    William A. Ritchie
    Elias Boudinot

     

    The following is from Alexander’s Messenger, page 16. Published in 1883, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    “A government officer stationed at Lake Superior, at an early day, before any white settlers had invaded that part of the country, after becoming acquainted with a number of the Indian tribes, found one tribe in possession of a copper tube, tightly soldered; and when asked what it contained they said they were not able to tell, but they had received it from their ancestors a long time ago. The officer finally prevailed upon them to let him open the article, and when he did so he found it filled with parchment, with inscriptions that he could not read, but he sending the parchment to Washington City where it was examined by competent Hebrew scholars, it was declared to be part of the five books of Moses.”

    Here we have another link in the chain, proving the  Hebrew were here many years before the white many came to this continent, and that the present North American Indians are their descendants.” Ten Tribes of Israel or the True History of the North American Indians showing that they are descendants of the Ten Tribes of Israel. By Timothy R. Jenkins, Springfield, Ohio 1883 https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86072017/

    An Ancient Jewish Phylactery found in Massachusetts

    Phylacteries and Borders of their Garments (Matt. 23)

    In reprimanding the Pharisees, the Savior said: “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments” (Matthew 23:5). What are phylacteries? What are the borders of their garments?

    Phylacteries

    The Hebrew word for phylactery is tefillin. In the following command, note that the Lord states that Israel is to keep the law before their eyes and heart. As a sign they are to bind the law on their hand and between their eyes.

    Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
    And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

    And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
    And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

    And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

    And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; emphasis added)

    A tefillin is a literal representation of the Lord’s command to bind the law on the hand and between the eyes. In his excellent book, To Be a Jew, Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin describes what tefillin are:

    The tefillin (translated phylacteries) consist of two small black boxes, containing small scrolls of parchment upon which are written four Biblical passages [Exodus 13:1-10; 13:11-16; Deut. 6:4-9; and 11:13-21]. These four passages from the Torah [five books of Moses] all include the commandment to don tefillin as a sign, as a symbol of Jewish faith and devotion. Each of the black boxes comes with leather straps (Hebrew: retzuot) so designed as to enable one to be bound upon the hand and for the other to be worn above the forehead. (p. 145)

    Borders of the Garments

    The phrase “borders of their garments” as reference to what is called in Hebrew the tallit or prayer shawls. The Lord gave the following commandment to the children of Israel:

    37 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
    38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:

    39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
    40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. (Numbers 15:37-40)

    Rabbi Donnin says of this passage:

    The commandment in [Numbers 15:37-40] calls for the attachment of fringes (tzitzit) to four-cornered garments as a reminder of all the commandments of the Lord … Garments not possessing four or more corners are not required to have the special fringes. ….

    Although in ancient times four-cornered garments or robes were common, the development of clothing not having four corners would have rendered this mitzvah [Heb. for commandment] totally obsolete, with the full sanction of the law. To prevent the total disappearance of a mitzvah that possessed such great symbolic significance (since it serves as a reminder to observe all the commandments), the Sages encouraged the wearing of a specially-made four-cornered garments so as to provide the opportunity to observe and implement this commandment.

    Says Maimonides: “Although one is not obligated to buy a garment and wrap himself in it just so as to provide it with fringes, it is not proper for a devout or pious person to exempt himself from observing this precept. He should strive to wear a garment that requires fringes so as to perform this precept. And during times of prayer, one should take special care to do so” (Hil. Tzitzit 3:11)

    The tallit, a four-cornered robe with the required tzitzit, has thus become the garment traditionally worn by men during morning prayer services. In English, it is commonly called a “prayer shawl.” (pp. 155-6)  Source: BYU Idaho 

    The Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 253

    Pittsfield’s Hebrew scrolls spark Mormon controversy

    When Joseph Merrick, local farmer and innkeeper, purchased a tract of land in west Pittsfield in 1800, he had no expectation that it would prove such fertile ground for growing mystery. Indeed, it was not until 15 years later that a seemingly innocuous piece of refuse found there would go on to arouse the interest of the town’s most prominent citizens, and to serve as a potentially crucial clue in controversy surrounding the origins of the Book of Mormon.

    In June of 1815, a boy Merrick had employed to clear a piece of yard presented him with a leather strap found among the debris left by plowing. Merrick at first threw it in a box and paid little attention. Only looking at it later did he realize that there was something inside the strap. He cut it open to find several tightly scrolled pieces of parchment. Each was inscribed with Hebrew characters of some sort. Perplexed, Merrick shared the discovery with some of the most learned men at the First Congregational Church, where he served as a deacon. He didn’t have to try very hard to get their attention. He had only barely mentioned the find when he found himself called on by a number of curious visitors. Rumors of the object quickly reached Elkanah Watson, father of the American Agricultural Society and probably Pittsfield’s most illustrious citizen at the time. Watson wrote in a letter “immediately on hearing of the discovery, I repaired to the house of Mr. Merrick, where I found several clergymen whose curiosity was [also] greatly excited by the strange incident..”

    Among those present when Watson arrived was 20-year-old Sylvester Larned, fresh from seminary but already “greatly distinguished for talents and moving eloquence.” Larned, though exceedingly well educated for the times, lacked any knowledge of Hebrew. This required the help of William Allen, son of “Fighting Parson” Thomas Allen, and the minister of First Congregational Church at the time. Allen identified the object as a Jewish phylactery, containing four pieces of parchment inscribed with verses from Deuteronomy and Exodus. 

    Now that they knew what it was, the question of where it came from became all the more exciting to them. No Jewish family or individual had ever lived at that location, so far as anyone knew. Before Merrick it had been the site of “Fort Hill” or Fort Ashley, a blockhouse built by colonial militia during the French and Indian War. Prior to that the area was called “Indian Hill,” in reference to it being the site of a former Mohican settlement, and it was this earlier occupation that most intrigued the Pittsfield scholars. In their mind, the phylactery fit quite perfectly into a debate that had begun more than a century and a half before. The theory that the American Indians were descendants of the lost tribes of Israel had first been advanced in 1650, with the publication of Thorowgood’s “Jewes in America” and had been a subject of perennial interest in Puritan New England ever since. Watson had already leaped to this conclusion, stating “the artifact must have found its way into this recent wilderness by the agency of some descendants of Israel. this discovery forms another link in the evidence by which our Indians are identified with the ancient Jews.” After his initial inspection, Allen was inclined to agree that the phylactery “furnished proof that our Indians were descendants of the ancient chosen people.” Adding weight to this conclusion was the late testimony of Dr. West of Stockbridge that “an old Indian” had told him that his ancestors had once “been in the possession of a book which they had, not long since, carried with them, but having lost the knowledge of reading it, they buried it with an Indian Chief.”*

    Shortly thereafter, Allen sent the artifact to Abiel Holmes, a scholar in Cambridge. There is no record of Holmes’ opinion, only that he delivered the phylactery to the American Antiquarian Society, on Allen’s urging. Nothing much was said or done about the phylactery for several years after that. Most of the parties who had viewed it (and many who hadn’t) believed it to be evidence of the Hebrew origins of Native Americans, but by 1816 or so no one outside of select sectarian circles seemed much interested in proving that point. In the early 1820s, Ethan Smith, a congregational minister in Poultney, Vt., became interested in the Pittsfield phylactery. Though he never actually saw it personally, he described it in his 1823 book “View of the Hebrews: The Lost Tribes of Israel in America.” That same year, a young man in Palmyra, N.Y., announced that he was to receive a set of plates from an angel. The man was Joseph Smith and the plates were said to contain a history of ancient America.

    Later, when these plates were being translated, Oliver Cowdery, one of original “Three Witnesses” of Mormonism’s Golden Plates, joined Smith and became the major scribe who assisted in Smith’s translation. Cowdery hailed from Poultney, where he had been a parishioner of Ethan Smith’s congregational flock and quite likely owned a copy of his book. For this reason, nearly two centuries of skeptics and opponents to Mormonism have theorized that Ethan Smith’s ideas, along with certain elements of his style (e.g., his heavy quotation of the Book of Isaiah) may have been one of two major sources of influence on the Book of Mormon (the other being a fictional manuscript by Solomon Spaulding that Smith friend and follower Sidney Rigdon may have provided. It is certain that Joseph Smith did become aware of View of the Hebrews at some point, for he cites it and the artifact found in Pittsfield as supporting evidence of the “Lost Tribes” in America. Furthermore, it is entirely conceivable that Smith could have already have heard of the phylactery prior to 1823.

    By then, though, no on was sure where the darned thing was. Isaiah Thomas, the first president of the antiquarian society, told Ethan Smith that he didn’t know where it was, or even where to go about looking. Several historians have made attempt over the years to track its whereabouts after being delivered to the society, coming up with only fragmentary possible scenarios. It may or may not have been returned to Sylvester Larned, who in 1818 expressed disappointment that nothing had come of the find. Larned may or may not in turn have sent it to Elias Boudinot, another interested scholar. Larned died of Yellow Fever two years later in New Orleans, at the age of 25, and there is no sign of the phylactery in Boudinot’s papers, housed at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. I tend to think that the Hebrew inscriptions are still in the hands of the Antiquarians – in fact, one AAS librarian in 1917 said that he seemed to remember seeing the scrolls but not didn’t know where. As such, it is one of hundreds of fascinating, potentially paradigm-shaking artifacts which resides in a Library Limbo, lost, uncataloged or misfiled in one of the country’s major archives or museums.

    What relevance does the Pittsfield discovery have today, anyway? Scientific knowledge has advanced, well, let’s say slightly, since the early 1800s, at least to a point where belief in Native American groups as descendants of lost Israelite tribes can be effectively dismissed. On the other hand, scholarly opinion over the past decade has increasingly shifted toward the concept of the Americas being an occasional stopping point of many different world groups prior to Columbus. In 1924, some lead artifacts, mostly crosses and swords, with Hebrew and early Latin inscriptions were dug up in Tucson, Ariz. The inscriptions told of a group of Romanized Jews who left the Empire and whose ship (apparently) came to shore in the Gulf of Mexico, from which point they followed the Colorado River inland, establishing a briefly flourishing colony. Of course, questions were raised about the authenticity of the artifacts and, like the Pittsfield phylactery, the “Tucson Crosses” went missing for many years before finally showing up on display at the University of Arizona campus in 2003.

    For those who prefer to get somewhat cleaner shave out of old Ockham’s razor, an alternate explanation was offered by William Allen, some time after the object left his care, though no one paid much attention. Allen noted that the strap was found in a place where wood chips and dirt had been collecting for years, and he was unable to find out whether it had come from the old earth beneath or from among the recent debris. He did learn that Merrick had employed British and German prisoners during the War of 1812, one of whom could have dropped it there. For my contribution, I’d append that it could have been lost there even earlier. The entire county was suddenly inundated with Hessian deserters following Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga in 1777 – some of whom never left – and any one of whom could have been the owner of the 18th-century equivalent of a scriptural fanny pack.

    Of course, modern forensics could probably provide snappy answers to almost all of the questions surrounding the legendary scripts, if one could only put one’s finger on the troublesome strip. “Or,” as Charles Fort more eloquently put it, “there could be a real science, if there were really anything to be scientific about.” Full Article here. http://mysterious-hills.blogspot.com/2006/03/pittsfields-hebrew-scrolls-spark.html

    Ancient Hebrew in North America

    There is so much Hebrew influence as shown in the charts included, that has been found in North America. Most artifacts are called hoaxes by the intellectuals because is doesn’t fit with their theory. Most of these intellectuals still believe the New World was peopled on land via the Bering Strait. We haven’t found even one Hebrew item in the Mesoamerica area. An amazing number of ancient Hebrew items are all over the United States.

    According to Wikipedia under Bering Strait it says, “The Strait has been the subject of the scientific hypothesis that humans migrated from Asia to North America across a land bridge known as Beringia when lower ocean levels – perhaps a result of glaciers locking up vast amounts of water – exposed a wide stretch of the sea floor, both at the present strait and in the shallow sea north and south of it. This view of how Paleo-Indians entered America has been the dominant one for several decades and continues to be the most accepted one. Numerous successful crossings without the use of a boat have also been recorded since at least the early 20th century.”

    Most common sense people just don’t believe the Bering Strait theory any more. We believe North America was peopled by ocean voyages from the Old World by the Jaredites, Mulekites, and Nephites and others from Asia and Africa voyaged to South and Central America.

    Our Fathers once had a Sacred Book like the White Man

    (* Note from above) In 1837, Elder Parley P. Pratt, one of the early defenders of the church, wrote a work entitled, “A Voice of Warning,” which has been published in many different editions in Europe and America. In the edition of 1885, published at Lamoni, Iowa, page 82, there is a quotation from Mr. Boudinot, which reads as follows:

    Purchase Today

    Mr. Boudinot in his able work, remarks concerning their language: “Their language in its roots, idiom, and particular construction, appears to have the whole genius of the Hebrew; and what is very remarkable, and well worthy of serious attention, has most of the peculiarities of the language, especially those in which it differs from most other languages. There is a tradition related by an aged Indian of the Stockbridge Tribe, that their fathers were once in possession of a ‘Sacred Book’ which was handed down from generation to generation, and at last hid in the earth, since which time they have been under the feet of their enemies. But those oracles were to be restored to them again, and then they would triumph over their enemies and regain their. ancient country, together with their rights and privileges.”

    Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum shows us how to put on your Tefillin correctly.

    Mormon Buried at Lake Oswego

    “We had a war long ago with a light skinned people around the Great Lakes. We conquered them but we had so much respect for their warrior chief that we buried him at the mouth of the Oswego River that is in New York State. (See map left to find where Mormon was buried). We don’t discuss this very much because it is an embarrassment to us.”
    President Rawson then asked why this is an embarrassment, and the Chief replied, “Our history is written on metal plates and buried in a hill in New York, but we don’t know which hill… It is the belief of the Cherokee People that they came to the land of the New World from the direction of the East Ocean riding on a white cloud.

    There seems to be in the legend, the existence of some type of round instru­ment which directed the voyage. Although not totally clear, it seems that the instrument which directed the voyage was ball-shape and contained another like it within itself. It contained a liquid, making the float­ing devices within to congregate at times to give direction to the eyes of the beholder…In those days when the Cherokee were a God-loving people, living in peace among themselves, they lived as one people, dwelling in half-moon shaped council houses. They had gone from living in caves to living in log-cabins. They still kept the sacred records of metal, some of which had come across the ocean waters with them, and others which they had con­tinued keeping and making, scribing upon them as had been done before by the leaders of the People. They, too, had possession of the Ark of the Covenant, which they also had brought with them from their place of origin, existing across the eastern waters.” Talk given to missionaries in training at the MTC, Provo, Utah 1979, by President Murray J. Rawson.

  • Mi’kmaq/Gaspesia/Hopewell/Nephite

    Mi’kmaq/Gaspesia/Hopewell/Nephite

    Michmash

    In the Old Testament there is a city that still exist today known today as Mikhmas and known in the Old Testament as Michmash. In the Old Testament the pronunciation of Michmash is very similar to the name of the Micmac tribe. Based on their similar beliefs and their Book of Prayers characters, Micmac tribe most likely are direct descendants of the Nephites/Hopewell Indians and survived the Nephite genocide by escaping to the North Alma 22:33. Their geographical location above the hill Cumorah and other factors such as a nomadic lifestyle, being decimated by sickness, as well as wars with the Iroquois (Lamanites), offers more evidence to support this conclusion. Based on the Iroquois beliefs and traditions, the Iroquois are the best candidate to be primarily responsible for the extinction of the Nephites. Michmash in Hebrew means “something hidden”. During the Nephite genocide any surviving Nephites would have to join the Lamanites or hide.

    1 Samuel 13:2 “Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.”
    Nehemiah 11 Isaiah 10:28

    Reformed Egyptian Four Surviving Characters

    In 1680 Father Chretian Le Clercq a Roman Catholic missionary lived among the Micmac Indians for twelve years. After spending this time with the Micmac, he then sailed back to France and wrote a book about the customs and religion of the Micmac Indians.

    He helped the Micmac Indians develop a written language composed of Hieroglyphs some of which are Egyptian hieroglyphs. In doing this he most likely used the characters that the Micmac Indians were already familiar with. When he first arrived he saw the Mic Mac Indians writing on birch bark. Four of the Egyptian hieroglyphs are same appearance and meaning as in the Egyptian written language.

    Christmas Gift!

    If Clercq himself had developed the characters for their written language he most likely would have used the Latin alphabet. The question becomes why would he use Egyptian hieroglyphs but most importantly how did he know the meaning of the hieroglyphs that he used. Egyptian hieroglyphs were undecipherable until 1820 when the Rosetta stone was discovered and allowed for the understanding of the ancient Egyptian written language. The chances of four characters being a coincidence has to be mathematically impossible. The hieroglyphs have to be from the characters the Mi’kmaq Indians were writing on birch bark.

    Nephi describes their written language as reformed Egyptian. The majority of Micmac characters are probably reformed Egyptian if not all of them.

    The Anthon Transcript is the piece of paper on which Joseph Smith transcribed characters from the golden plates so that Martin Harris could show Dr. Charles Anton. Anton was an Egyptologist who could confirm the validity of the golden plates translation. Per the history, Anton described the characters as Egyptian, Chaldean and Assyrian. Wikipedia

    The People of the Dawn

    The Mi’kmaq live in what many call New England and Canada today, but the truth is, they have lived in this area of the world for many years before European colonists arrived. L’nu is the word in the Mi’kmaq language for “the people,” and this is how they referred to themselves. When they first met European fur trappers and missionaries, they greeted them with Mi’kmaq, which is the word for “friends.” The colonists took this word to be the name of the people and the term stuck even into the present day. Many Mi’kmaq refer to the area where they live as Dawnland because it sees the dawn before the rest of the country each day. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8e6d11d6a05a444dbd6c35400b9584f1

    About Mi’kmaq Tribe Genealogy

    This is a photo of Dr. Jeremiah Lonecloud who was a Mi’kmaq ethnographer, medicine man and entertainer. He is dressed in clothes made from animals skins. This photo was taken in 1885. He is probably dressed like this because at this time he preformed in a Wild West Show.

    Members of the Mi’kmaq Tribe are the descendants of the L’nuk (the people) of the Mi’kmaq Tribe (our kin relations) born in Mi’kma’ki (the land of our people) speakers of Mi’kmaw (our official language) in Mi’kma’kik (the territory of our people).

    Mi’kma’kik, Turtle Island includes many villages located in seven territories called Kespukwitk, Sikepne’katik, Eski’kewaq, Unama’kik, Piktuk aqq Epekwitk, Sikniktewaq, and Kespe’kewaq. Turtle Island includes North America, South America, and the Antarctic. Mi’kma’kik today includes Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, the north shore of New Brunswick to the Saint John River watershed, eastern Maine, part of Newfoundland, and the islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and St. Pierre, Miquelon.

    The Mi’kmaq Tribe is governed by the Sante Mawiomi (Grand Council) led by a kji’saqmaw (grand chief), a putus (treaty holder and counselor), and a kji’keptan (grand captain, advisor on political affairs) for each village in the seven territories of Mi’kma’kik, Turtle Island.

    This photo of Jeremiah Lonecloud and his son was taken in 1927. It shows how the Mi’kmaq wore clothing from the time period rather than traditional Mi’kmaq clothing. It is thought that Mi’kmaq men had adopted European style pants and jack

    A Tribe consists of individuals, families and clans of specific Turtle Island tribal territories that descend from mtDNA and yDNA haplogroups that originate in Turtle Island and shares autosomal DNA. Including other Turtle Island Tribes and admixture DNA from peoples whose DNA is foreign to Turtle Island.

    Words and jargon introduced by peoples foreign to Turtle Island such as Indian, Squaw, Country Wife, Indian Blood, and Metis are racist and debasing and yet continue to be used by many academics, government officials, writers, and individuals today as acceptable language. There is no such thing as “Indian Blood”. The people of Turtle Island ancestry are homo sapiens. The blood types of homo sapiens are: A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+ and AB.

    Our DNA contains information that has been passed down with minor mutations from our early ancestors who discovered and settled Turtle Island thousands of years ago. YDNA tests a direct male line through father to son and MTDNA tests the direct maternal line through mother to daughter. Although a mother passes her MTDNA to her sons, her sons do not pass on their MTDNA to their sons or daughters. Autosomal DNA tests 22 non-gender specific chromosomes (autosomes) which is inherited from both parents. Autosomal DNA confirms your relationship to each branch of your family (your grandparents) for five generations and beyond, making it possible to confirm one’s relationship to one’s family, clan, and Tribe.

    This lunar calendar shows the importance of nature to the Mi’kmaq.

    A haplogroup is a genetic population group of people who share a common ancestor on the paternal or the maternal lines. Top-level haplogroups are assigned letters of the alphabet, and deeper refinements (mutations) consist of additional number and letter combinations specific to where the mutation occurred in the genetic history of homo sapiens. DNA haplogroups are associated with specific geographical areas that link us to the group of people who share ancient ancestors.

    The geographical area of Turtle Island haplogroups descend from a small group of ancestral haplogroups who separated from the “out of Africa” population to discover Turtle Island thousands of years ago. The ancestral MTDNA haplogroups are A, B, C, D and X. The YDNA ancestral haplogroups are Q and C. People of Turtle Island ancestry say we have been here since “time immemorial”. A point in time so long ago that we have no knowledge or memory of it. Given that the youngest of the ancestral MTDNA haplogroups that discovered Turtle Island, MTDNA haplogroup X separated from haplogroup N about 30,000 years ago confirms the oral tradition “since time immemorial” as true.

    The DNA sub-haplogroups that originate in Turtle Island and do not originate outside of Turtle Island are MTDNA haplogroups A2, B2c, C1b, C1c, C1d, D1, C4c, D2a, and D4h3a, and X2a.

    The YDNA sub-haplogroups that originate in Turtle Island and do not originate outside of Turtle Island are YDNA haplogroups Q-M3, Q-L54, Q-Z780, Q-MEH2, Q-SA01, Q-M346, Q-P89.1, Q-NWT01, C-M217, C-M130, C-P39), R1 (M173) and R-M207. All of which descend from a single founding population that discovered Turtle Island thousands of years ago.

    The Mi’kmaq shared a kinship, social, political and trade relationship with other Turtle Island Tribes and Confederacies for thousands of years. The Mi’kmaq Tribe is the very first Tribe to have contact with foreigners from other continents.

    The genealogy and history of the Mi’kmaq Tribe can establish the lineages of our earliest known ancestors of the Mi’kmaq Tribe, family pedigrees, and our kinship relationship to other Turtle Island Tribes and foreign monarchies and traders.

    The Membertou, Chegau, Paul, Joe, and Cope, Mi’kmaq families of Mi’kma’kik, Turtle Island, pre-date contact with peoples foreign to Turtle Island. Colonial writer and lawyer, Marc Lescarbot wrote that: “Membertou was already a man of great age, and saw Captain Jacques Cartier in that country in 1534, being already at that time a married man and the father of a family, though even now he does not look more than fifty years old.” Note, the writer of the colonial record, the lawyer to the King of France, refers to Mi’kma’ki, Turtle Island as a country.

    The confederation and creation of the government of Canada only occurred 157 years ago, and yet today entire family lines have disappeared from the records; the seizure of children, adoption, and status and non-status Indian Act legislation has influenced the family lines and genealogy of the descendants of the Mi’kmaq people and founding Tribes of Turtle Island.

    Records are entered in the notes field of the Mi’kmaq tribal tree. Any information regarding birth, marriage, death, occupation, census, land ownership/title, military service, voting lists, family bibles, ownership of fishing schooners, businesses, wills and estates, photographs, treaties, wampum, oral traditions, petroglyph photographs, archaeological finds, Colonial, European, Canada and Vatican records are crucial to determining and documenting the history of the Mi’kmaq Tribe.

    Turtle Island is entered as a place name if a life event occurred in Turtle Island and the Tribal territory is unknown. Once the Tribe of the territory where the life event occurred confirms the territory name the entry of Turtle Island will be updated to the name of the Tribal territory. Canada or the United States is entered as a place name of the colonial governments that are located within the original Turtle Island territories if the life event occurred after the creation of either one of the two colonial governments.

    The coloured dots on the tribal tree represent the oldest proven lineages of the Mi’kmaq Tribe. The Mi’kmaq star indicates the individual is of Mi’kmaq ancestry and the Turtle indicates the individual was born in Turtle Island and married into the Mi’kmaq Tribe.

    The Mi’kmaq Tribe includes the Mi’kmaq families, clans, and names of the members of the Mi’kmaq tribe prior to and after contact with peoples foreign to Mi’kma’ki, Turtle Island. The tribal tree is not a public resource for private genealogical research. It is a tribal tree that contains the genealogical history and kinship relationships of the tribe created for the members of the Mi’kmaq Tribe. Access to the tribal tree is not provided to any person that is not of Mi’kmaq ancestry or to any government, education institute, public or private organization that is not a member of the Mi’kmaq Tribe.

    The above image is of Mi’kmaq moccasins made in the 1860s. Notice the fancy beadwork and colors.

    To request member access to the tribal tree, please provide your direct lineage to your Mi’kmaq ancestor and/or ancestors. Once the information is confirmed it will be added to the tree and you will be provided member access to the tribal tree. Member access to the tribal tree gives you the ability to upload a Mi’kmaq family member photograph and to update the information for your immediate family to contribute to the genealogical history of the Mi’kmaq Tribe.

    You can inquire if your Mi’kmaq ancestor is on the tree by providing the name of your Mi’kmaq ancestor and I will confirm if your ancestor’s name is on the tree. If you ancestor’s name is on the tree but you do not know how you descend from your ancestor, then you will need to research your lineage and provide how you descend from your Mi’kmaq ancestor for member access to the tree.

    In Turtle Island one’s identity is defined as much by one’s ancestry as by one’s individual achievement, and the question “Who are you?” is answered by a description of your father, your mother, and your tribe. Mi’kmaq Tribe Genealogy

    “There is no Indian who does not consider himself infinitely more happy and more powerful than the French.” Chrestien Le Clercq

    “The name Mi’kmaq comes from the word «nikmak», which means, «my close relatives ». The correct spelling of their name is Mikmag however the use of Micmac became very popular over the centuries. The Mi’kmaq were called various other names, depending on the language spoken by the Europeans they got into contact with or the place they met: Indian from Cape Sable, Gaspesians or Mi’kmaq from Gaspé, Matueswiskitchinuuk (Maliseet « porcupine Indian »), shonack (Beothuk « bad Indian »), Souriquois (name used by French) and Torrateen (name used by English). However, between themselves, the Mi’kmaq called each other “L’nu’k” which means the people. The Mi’kmaq share many similarities with the Maliseets of New Brunswick and the Abenaki of New England, with the exception being that they were not farmers. Many believe the Mi’kmaq come from Northern Canada only because their language has common characteristics with Cree.

    Before the European settlement, the Mi’kmaq lived mainly in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick and in southern part of Gaspé Peninsula. Nomadic people, hunter-gatherers, they lived in wigwams that were built and taken down in a day, made of spruce, wood, bark, and pine branches, with the inside floors covered in fur for comfort. The big wigwams could shelter ten to twelve people. The wigwams are different from tepees; the latter were made of animal skin and were never used by the Mi’kmaq. To move in the forest or the region’s turbulent rivers, the Mi’kmaq used snowshoes, canoes and toboggans. Their clothes were made out of mammal skin, bird feathers and fish scales to protect them against the winter cold and were also used for ceremonies and rituals. The animal bones and tendons were used to sew together animal skins to make dresses, skirts or coats, etc. The clothes were decorated with things that the Mi’kmaq picked all around. Bones, tendons and animal teeth were also used to make tools as well as stones, roots, tree barks and clay. Men were in charge of making tools whereas women were in charge of making clothes as well as crafts such as baskets.

    The Mi’kmaq were the first Indians to come into contact and befriend Europeans. The Vikings and Basque fishermen were distant towards this people, considered primitive because of their different lifestyle and language. John Cabot was the first European explorer who took three Amerindians to England in 1497. The relationship between the Mi’kmaq and the Europeans improved with the dawn of the exploration era undertaken by the Spanish, the Portuguese, the French and the English in their efforts to discover a route to the Orient and its much sought-after spices. The Mi’kmaq traded their fur for European pearls, fabric and firearms. To satisfy an ever-increasing demand for fur, the Mi’kmaq formed an alliance with the Algonquins residing inland, while the European firearms acquired through trade rendered them practically invincible. These two factors largely explain the sudden disappearance of the Iroquois people from the Saint Lawrence River valley, and their replacement, as of 1608, by the Montagnais and other Algonquin-speaking tribes.” http://www.acadian-home.org/Mikmaq-history.html

    The American Yawp Reader
    A Gaspesian Man Defends His Way of Life, 1641

    Chrestien Le Clercq traveled to New France as a missionary, but found that many Native Americans were not interested in adopting European cultural practices. In this document, LeClercq records the words of a Gaspesian man who explained why he believed that his way of life was superior to Le Clercq’s.

    … the Indians esteem their camps as much as, and even more than, they do the most superb and commodious of our houses. To this they testified one day to some of our gentlemen of Isle Percée, who, having asked me to serve them as interpreter in a visit which they wished to make to these Indians in order to make the latter understand that it would be very much more advantageous for them to live and to build in our fashion, were extremely surprised when the leading Indian, who had listened with great patience to everything I had said to him on behalf of these gentlemen, answered me in these words :

    I am greatly astonished that the French have so little cleverness, as they seem to exhibit in the matter of which thou hast just told me on their behalf, in the effort to persuade us to convert our poles, our barks, and our wigwams into those houses of stone and of wood which are tall and lofty, according to their account, as these trees. Very well! But why now, do men of five to six feet in height need houses which are sixty to eighty? For, in fact, as thou knowest very well thyself, Patriarch—do we not find in our own all the conveniences and the advantages that you have with yours, such as reposing, drinking, sleeping, eating, and amusing ourselves with our friends when we wish? This is not all, my brother, hast thou as much ingenuity and cleverness as the Indians, who carry their houses and their wigwams with them so that they may lodge wheresoever they please, independently of any seignior whatsoever? Thou art not as bold nor as stout as we, because when thou goest on a voyage thou canst not carry upon thy shoulders thy buildings and thy edifices. Therefore it is necessary that thou prepares as many lodgings as thou makest changes of residence, or else thou lodgest in a hired house which does not belong to thee. As for us, we find ourselves secure from all these inconveniences, and we can always say, more truly than thou, that we are at home everywhere, because we set up our wigwams with ease wheresoever we go, and without asking permission of anybody. Thou reproachest us, very inappropriately, that our country is a little hell in contrast with France, which thou comparest to a terrestrial paradise, inasmuch as it yields thee, so thou safest, every kind of provision in abundance.

    Mi’kmaq Wigwam

    Thou sayest of us also that we are the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules, like the beasts in our woods and our forests, lacking bread, wine, and a thousand other comforts which thou hast in superfluity in Europe. Well, my brother, if thou dost not yet know the real feelings which our Indians have towards thy country and towards all thy nation, it is proper that I inform thee at once. I beg thee now to believe that, all miserable as we seem in thine eyes, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have; and believe also once for all, I pray, that thou deceivest thyself greatly if thou thinkest to persuade us that thy country is better than ours. For if France, as thou sayest, is a little terrestrial paradise, art thou sensible to leave it? And why abandon wives, children, relatives, and friends? Why risk thy life and thy property every year, and why venture thyself with such risk, in any season whatsoever, to the storms and tempests of the sea in order to come to a strange and barbarous country which thou considerest the poorest and least fortunate of the world? Besides, since we are wholly convinced of the contrary, we scarcely take the trouble to go to France, because we fear, with good reason, lest we find little satisfaction there, seeing, in our own experience, that those who are natives thereof leave it every year in order to enrich themselves on our shores.

    We believe, further, that you are also incomparably poorer than we, and that you are only simple journeymen, valets, servants, and slaves, all masters and grand captains though you may appear, seeing that you glory in our old rags and in our miserable suits of beaver which can no longer be of use to us, and that you find among us, in the fishery for cod which you make in these parts, the wherewithal to comfort your misery and the poverty which oppresses you. As to us, we find all our riches and all our conveniences among ourselves, without trouble and without exposing our lives to the dangers in which you find yourselves constantly through your long voyages. And, whilst feeling compassion for you in the sweetness of our repose, we wonder at the anxieties and cares which you give yourselves night and day in order to load your ship. We see also that all your people live, as a rule, only upon cod which you catch among us. It is everlastingly nothing but cod—cod in the morning, cod at midday, cod at evening, and always cod, until things come to such a pass that if you wish some good morsels, it is at our expense; and you are obliged to have recourse to the Indians, whom you despise so much, and to beg them to go a-hunting that you may be regaled.

    Now tell me this one little thing, if thou hast any sense: Which of these two is the wisest and happiest—he who labours without ceasing and only obtains, and that with great trouble, enough to live on, or he who rests in comfort and finds all that he needs in the pleasure of hunting and fishing? It is true, that we have not always had the use of bread and of wine which your France produces; but, in fact, before the arrival of the French in these parts, did not the Gaspesians live much longer than now? And if we have not any longer among us any of those old men of a hundred and thirty to forty years, it is only because we are gradually adopting your manner of living, for experience is making it very plain that those of us live longest who, despising your bread, your wine, and your brandy, are content with their natural food of beaver, of moose, of waterfowl, and fish, in accord with the custom of our ancestors and of all the Gaspesian nation. Learn now, my brother, once for all, because I must open to thee my heart: there is no Indian who does not consider himself infinitely more happy and more powerful than the French.

    Crestien Le Clercq, New Relation of Gaspesia: With the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, William F. Ganong, ed. and trans. (Toronto: 1910), 103-106. http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/a-gaspesian-indian-defends-his-way-of-life-1641/

    Mi’kmaq Nephites and Christ visit. It is becoming clear that the Mi’kmaq may be remnants of the Nephite nation for several reasons.

    They have four reformed Egyptian characters in their book of Prayers. They have the most examples of Hebrew culture. Comparatively they have high concentrations of Middle Eastern dna. Their geographical location north of the Hill Cumorah also matches well. They are traditional enemies of the Iroquois’ (Lamanite) nation. They have an account of Christ visit.

    “Chrestien Le Clercq, O.M.R., (born 1641) was a Recollect Franciscan friar and missionary to the Mi’kmaq on the Gaspé peninsula of Canada in the mid-17th century. He was a chronicler of New France, who wrote two early histories, and translator of a Native American language of that region, adapting an apparently indigenous mnemonic glyph system into a writing system known as Míkmaq hieroglyphic writing.” Wikipedia

    In 1680 Father Chretian Le Clercq a Roman Catholic missionary lived among the Micmac Indians for twelve years. Father Clercq was surprised by the many Hebrew customs that the Mi’kmaq had when he asked them if Christians missionaries had taught them these beliefs. The Mi’kmaq elders said that he was the first missionary to visit their tribe.

    Examples of Mi’kmaq Hebrew Customs and Beliefs that Father Clercq found among the Mi’kmaq 

    Hebrew custom of one year betrothal and dowry
    (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 85 )

    Belief of a great flood
    (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 84 )

    Belief they descended from one man and one woman and genesis account
    (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 84 )

    Their language compared to Hebrew by Silas T Rand
    (Legends of the Mic Macs pg 35)

    Mi’kmaq Book of Mormon Examples

    Belief they sailed to North America as did Lehi and his family (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 84 )

    Belief they had letters and a written language
    (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 86 )

    Christ’s Visit

    The Mi’kmaq are visited by a man who performs miracles and people are healed.

    In the Book of Mormon Christ visits the Nephites and performs miracles and healings (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 172 )

    This man takes the time to teach the Mi’kmaq people. Christ spends several days if not weeks teaching the Nephites and Lamanites.
    (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 172 )

    Before a visit by this man the Mi’kmaq’s were under extreme destitution and devastation. Before Christ visit in the Book of Mormon there were natural calamities that devastated the Nephites and Lamanites
    (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 172 )

    Before Christ visit there was three days of darkness. The Mi’kmaq elders during the devastation of their nation were under a deep sleep consistent with the Book of Mormon. (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 86 )

    The Mi’kmaq believe they need to have signs and and tokens in the after life. Father Clercq also believed that they once had the gospel but was lost to due to the licentiousness of their ancestors. “these people had received in times past a knowledge of the Gospel and of Christianity, which they have finally lost through the negligence and the licentiousness of their ancestors” (New Relations of Gaspesia pg 86 )

    https://archive.org/details/newrelationofgas05lecl/page/90
    https://archive.org/details/cihm_12305/page/n9/mode/2up

    Another form of Mi’kmaq Wigwam

    Charts from the Annotated Book of Mormon

    Purchase Here

    Page 542

    Page 91
    Source: Annotated Book of Mormon by Hocking and Meldrum
  • Lamanite, A North American Indian

    Lamanite, A North American Indian

    Lamanite, A North American Indian

    “I think it’s important to realize that the title page of the Book of Mormon says, “written to the Lamanites. That’s one of the very first things it says. I think Latter-day Saints today think well, the Book of Mormon is written for us. Well it was, written for the entire world, but of course Mormon, Moroni in their understanding of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, they fully realized that this book, this record, would eventually come forth to their descendants to the descendants of Lehi, and his family. And, this is clear to Joseph Smith. There’s no question in my mind that Joseph Smith knows from the very beginning this record needs to be received and given to and accepted by Lamanite descendants. And in 1830, to Joseph Smith and the Church members, a Lamanite meant to them, a North American Indian. There’s just no question.” Alexander L. Baugh BYU Church History Department; transcribed from the documentary “History of the Saints” Mission to the Lamanites Part 1.

    The White Man

    “As yet I know of no species that was exterminated until the coming of the white man … The white man considered animal life just as he did the natural man life upon this continent as “pests.” There is no word in the Lakota vocabulary with the English meaning of this word … Forests were mown down, the buffalo exterminated, the beaver driven to extinction and his wonderfully constructed dams dynamited … and the very birds of the air silenced … The white man has come to be the symbol of extinction for all things natural in this continent. Between him and the animal there is no rapport and they have learned to flee from his approach, for they cannot live on the same ground.” Chief Luther Standing Bear, Land of the Spotted Eagle, Houghton Mifflin, Boston & New York, 1933.

    I truly believe the Spirit of Christ was given to all men and women as we each chose to live on this earth. Our challenge is, who will live up to that “Great Spirit’s desires which He has for each of us, and who will not? 

    We are all equal in God’s eyes, both male and female, bond and free, black and white, and I believe the Lord’s greatest desire is to see all of His children live together in love and peace. It’s unfortunate how the White Man has treated the Native American and their descendants the Hebrews. As you read below, you will come to realize the true Spirit contained within these special Lamanites of North America and all other nationalities on this beautiful Earth. I share the quote below as a tribute to Mike and Betty LaFontaine who truly know they are people from the East.

    Thankful to the East

    “We are thankful to the East because everyone feels good in the morning when they awake, and sees the bright light coming from the East; and when the Sun goes down in the West we feel good and glad we are well; then we are thankful to the West. And we are thankful to the North, because when the cold winds come we are glad to have lived to see the leaves fall again; and to the South, for when the south wind blows and everything is coming up in the spring, we are glad to live to see the grass growing and everything green again. We thank the Thunders, for they are the Manitou’s that bring the rain, which the Creator has given them power to rule over. And we thank our mother, the Earth, whom we claim as mother because the Earth carries us and everything we need.” Charley Elkhair, quoted in M. R. Harrington, Religion and Ceremonies of the Lenape, Indian Notes and Monographs, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, vol 19 (1921).

    1830

    “The Book of Mormon was published the same year the Indian Removal Act passed. It gave Church members a different perspective on the past history and future destiny of American Indians. The early Saints believed that all American Indians were the descendants of Book of Mormon peoples, and that they shared a covenant heritage connecting them to ancient Israel. They often held the same prejudices toward Indians shared by other European Americans, but Latter-day Saints believed Native Americans were heirs to God’s promises even though they now suffered for once having rejected the gospel. This belief instilled in the early Saints a deeply felt obligation to bring the message of the Book of Mormon to American Indians.

    Within months of the founding of the Church in 1830, Latter-day Saint missionaries journeyed to Indian Territory, on the borders of the United States. Parley P. Pratt reported that William Anderson (Kik-Tha-We-Nund), the leader of a group of Delaware (Lenape) who had relocated to the area near Independence, Missouri, warmly received the missionaries, and an interpreter told Oliver Cowdery that the “chief says he believes every word” of the Book of Mormon. However, a government agent soon barred them from further evangelizing among Indians in the area because they had not secured proper authorization. Latter-day Saint interactions with American Indians remained sparse for the next few years, though Pratt and others still spoke of a day when Indians would embrace the Book of Mormon.” Church History Topics

    Lamanite Tradition

    “We can learn much from the Native Americans. At one time they each had the true gospel with the priesthood in their homes. We know through transgression they lost those blessings, but retain many of the oral traditions of the gospel.

    We have heard it said “the first shall be last and the last shall be first”. What can we learn from the Native Americans? I have always known the Native American believe in only one God. They worship the Great Spirit. They are a humble and proud people with a wonderful sense of humor. They only allow their High Priest to speak the sacred things of God.

    “It is interesting to note, in closing, that I know of no Indian language in which one can take the name of the Lord in vain. Indeed, I do not know of an Indian language in which they can even swear. They have to learn English or some white man’s language before they can defile the name of Deity.” LAMANITE TRADITION by Golden R. Buchanan PRESIDENT, SOUTHWEST INDIAN MISSION IMPROVEMENT ERA APRIL 1955 SPECIAL LAMANITE ISSUE

    Turtle Island

    Artistic interpretation of an island growing atop a turtle’s back.

    For some Indigenous peoples, Turtle Island refers to the continent of North America. The name comes from various Indigenous oral histories that tell stories of a turtle that holds the world on its back. For some Indigenous peoples, the turtle is therefore considered an icon of life, and the story of Turtle Island consequently speaks to various spiritual and cultural beliefs.

    Origin and Definition

    Turtle Island is the name many Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking peoples mainly in the northeastern part of North America use to refer to the continent. In various Indigenous origin stories, the turtle is said to support the world, and is an icon of life itself. Turtle Island therefore speaks to various spiritual beliefs about creation and for some, the turtle is a marker of identity, culture, autonomy and a deeply-held respect for the environment.

    Story of Turtle Island

    The story of Turtle Island varies among Indigenous communities, but by most accounts, it acts as a creation story that places emphasis on the turtle as a symbol of life and earth. The following versions are brief reinterpretations of stories shared by Indigenous peoples. In no way do these examples represent all variations of the tale; they merely seek to demonstrate general characteristics and plots of different stories. Source

    North American Indians: the Spirituality of Nature

    Every seed is awakened and so is all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our animal neighbours the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land. Sitting Bull

    The environmental wisdom and spirituality of North American Indians is legendary.

    Animals were respected as equal in rights to humans. Of course they were hunted, but only for food, and the hunter first asked permission of the animal’s spirit. Among the hunter-gatherers the land was owned in common: there was no concept of private property in land, and the idea that it could be bought and sold was repugnant. Many Indians had an appreciation of nature’s beauty as intense as any Romantic poet.

    Religious beliefs varied between tribes, but there was a widespread belief in a Great Spirit who created the earth, and who pervaded everything. This was a panentheist rather than a pantheist belief. But the pantheistic tone was far stronger than among Christians, and more akin to the pantheism of William Wordsworth. It was linked to an animism which saw kindred spirits in all animals and plants.

    The Indians viewed the white man’s attitude to nature as the polar opposite of the Indian. The white man seemed hell-bent on destroying not just the Indians, but the whole natural order, felling forests, clearing land, killing animals for sport.

    Of course, not everything that every Indian tribe did was wonderfully earth-wise and conservation-minded. The Anasazi of Chaco Canyon probably helped to ruin their environment and destroy their own civilization through deforestation. In the potlatch the Kwakiutl regularly burned heaps of canoes, blankets and other possessions simply to prove their superiority to each other; the potlatch is the archetypal example of wanton overconsumption for status. Even the noble plains Indians often killed far more bisons than they needed, in drives of up to 900 animals.

    In other words, the Indians were not an alien race of impossibly wonderful people. They were human just like the rest of us. And in that lies hope.

    Wisdom derives from way of life, and is as fragile as nature. Many Indians shared their animism, their respect for nature and their attitude to the land with other hunter-gatherers. But when ways of life change, beliefs change to support them. The advent of agriculture and then industry brought massive shifts in attitudes to nature (see How we fell from unity.)

    Beliefs can also change ways of life. Our present way of life is laying waste to the environment that supports us. New beliefs can help us to change that way of life, and in arriving at those beliefs, we can learn immensely from the beliefs of the North American Indians. Source North American Indians: the spirituality of nature

    Our Brothers and Sisters: 5 Sacred Animals and What They Mean in Native Cultures

    Marco Crisari/Thinkstock The turtle is but one of many sacred animals throughout Native cultures.

    Indian Country Today Vincent Schilling 2014

    Indigenous cultures carry precious knowledge about the world around us, including human relationship with animals.

    Without a doubt, animals are a huge part of Native culture. They are considered our brothers and sisters, among our winged, four-legged and swimming family members. They are part of our creation stories, they are messengers to the ancestors and the Creator, and they are our teachers on this world.

    In an attempt to give a bit of respect to our sacred animals, we have compiled a bit of cultural information about our brother and sister brethren. Here are six sacred animals and what they mean.

    The Eagle

    Because the eagle is the animal that flies the highest in the animal kingdom, many tribes have believed they are the most sacred, the deliverers of prayers to the Creator. Additionally, the eagle feather as a gift is considered the highest honor to be given.

    The eagle is an animal of leadership, and in most cultures it is considered a dishonor to kill one. As a certain Cherokee legend demonstrates, you simply don’t mess with an eagle. One night, according to The Eagle’s Revenge as recounted on the website FirstPeople.us, a hunter kills an eagle that he finds eating a deer hung on the drying pole. The following day seven warriors are felled mid-dance by seven whoops from a warrior who enters in the middle of the ceremony. The tribe later learns that it was the eagle’s brother, come to avenge the death.

    The Coyote

    Most commonly viewed as the trickster by many tribes, the coyote figure is also called Isily by the Cahuilla, Yelis by the Alsea and Old Man Coyote by the Crow Tribe, which views the animal as both creator and trickster. Regarded by some tribes as a hero who creates, teaches and helps humans, the coyote also demonstrates the dangers of negative behaviors such as greed, recklessness and arrogance in other tribes.

    Overall, the coyote is often referred to as a creature of both folly and intelligence that seeks to fulfill its own needs at the expense of others. The coyote is also known as a master of disguise.

    The Buffalo

    As one of the most important life sources for the Plains tribes, the American buffalo, or bison, is a sacred and strong giver of life. Their horns and hides were used as sacred regalia during ceremony. They are also tied to creation, medicine and bringers of sacred messages by the ancestors such as White Buffalo Calf Woman, the bearer of the peace pipe to the Lakota people.

    In an Apache story, a powerful being by the name of Humpback had always kept the buffalo from the tribes of Earth, thanks to Coyote, who tricked Humpback and his son into believing that he was a dog, waited for them to fall asleep and then barked to scare the buffalo. The buffalo in turn trampled Humpback’s house flat, which allowed the bison to roam the Earth and feed the people.

    The Raven

    Another trickster, the raven is a big part of many tribes including the Tlingit of Alaska, who tell many stories about how the raven created the stars and the moon. The raven is the creator god of Gwich’ in mythology—mischievous and loud, and in many ways a sarcastic troublemaker, he is also known as a thief.

    In one Tlingit story the raven changes himself into a small piece of dirt, and a young girl, the daughter of a rich man, swallows the transformed raven in a drink. The girl has a child, who cries until bundles are opened to create the stars and the moon. Finally the child takes the bundle, which is in fact daylight, and the raven is revealed.

    In the trickster vein, this one hilarious, the Raven places dog feces near the rear end of his brother-in-law in order to trick him. While he is distracted, the Raven takes all of the water in his brother-in-law’s nearby spring.

    The Turtle

    Known as the carrier of Turtle Island by the Great Spirit, the turtle plays a fundamental role in the creation stories of many East Coast tribes. The name Turtle Island is literal: Having placed a large amount of dirt on a great turtle’s back in order to create North America, the Creator designated the turtle as its eponymous caretaker.

    While Plains tribes associate the turtle with long life and fertility, other tribes associate the turtle with healing, wisdom, spirituality and patience. The Hopi know the turtle spirit as Kahaila, while it is Mikcheech to the Micmac and Tolba to the Abenaki.

    Ancient bobcat buried like a human being

    Science Magazine By David Grimm Jul. 2, 2015

    A bobkitten, perhaps resembling the one Native Americans buried 2000 years ago. ROBERT SHANTZ/ALAMY

    About 2000 years ago in what is today western Illinois, a group of Native Americans buried something unusual in a sacred place. In the outer edge of a funeral mound typically reserved for humans, villagers interred a bobcat, just a few months old and wearing a necklace of bear teeth and marine shells. The discovery represents the only known ceremonial burial of an animal in such mounds and the only individual burial of a wild cat in the entire archaeological record, researchers claim in a new study. The villagers may have begun to tame the animal, the authors say, potentially shedding light on how dogs, cats, and other animals were domesticated.

    “It’s surprising and marvelous and extremely special,” says Melinda Zeder, a zooarchaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. But Zeder, who was not involved in the study, says it’s unclear whether these people treated the bobcat as a pet or invested the animal with a larger spiritual significance.

    The mound is one of 14 dirt domes of various sizes that sit on a bluff overlooking the Illinois River, about 80 kilometers north of St. Louis. Their builders belonged to the Hopewell culture, traders and hunter-gatherers who lived in scattered villages of just a couple of dozen individuals each and created animal-inspired artwork, like otter-shaped bowls and ceramics engraved with birds. “Villages would come together to bury people in these mounds,” says Kenneth Farnsworth, a Hopewell expert at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey in Champaign. “It was a way to mark the area as belonging to your ancestors.”

    Ancient Native Americans buried these bone pendants and shell beads together with the bobcat. KENNETH FARNSWORTH

    Archaeologists rushed to excavate the mounds in the early 1980s because of an impending highway project. When they dug into the largest one—28 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters high—they unearthed the bodies of 22 people buried in a ring around a central tomb that contained the skeleton of an infant. They also discovered a small animal interred by itself in this ring; marine shells and bear teeth pendants carved from bone lay near its neck, all containing drill holes, suggesting they had been part of a collar or necklace. The Hopewell buried their dogs—though in their villages, not in these mounds—and the researchers assumed the animal was a canine. They placed the remains in a box, labeled it “puppy burial,” and shelved it away in the archives of the Illinois State Museum in Springfield.

    Decades later, Angela Perri realized that the team had gotten it wrong. A Ph.D. student at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom, Perri was interested in ancient dog burials and came across the box in 2011 while doing research at the museum.  “As soon as I saw the skull, I knew it was definitely not a puppy,” says Perri, now a zooarchaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. “It was a cat of some kind.”

    When Perri analyzed the bones, she found that they belonged to a bobcat, likely between 4 and 7 months old. The skeleton was complete, and there were no cut marks or other signs of trauma, suggesting to Perri that the animal had not been sacrificed. When she looked back at the original excavation photos, she saw that the bobcat had been carefully placed in its grave. “It looked respectful; its paws were placed together,” she says. “It was clearly not just thrown into a hole.”

    When Perri told Farnsworth, he was floored. “It shocked me to my toes,” he says. “I’ve never seen anything like it in almost 70 excavated mounds.” Because the mounds were intended for humans, he says, somebody bent the rules to get the cat buried there. “Somebody important must have convinced other members of the society that it must be done. I’d give anything to know why.”

    Perri, who reports the discovery with Farnsworth and another colleague this week in the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, has her suspicions. The pomp and circumstance of the burial, she says, “suggests this animal had a very special place in the life of these people.” And the age of the kitten implies that the villagers brought it in from the wild—perhaps as an orphan—and may have tried to raise it. Bobcats, she notes, are only about twice the size of a housecat and are known to be quite tamable. The necklace seals the deal for her. She thinks it may have been a collar, a sign that the animal was a cherished pet. “This is the closest you can get to finding taming in the archaeological record,” says Perri, who believes the find provides a window into how other animals—whether they be dogs or livestock—were brought into human society and domesticated. “They saw the potential of this animal to go beyond wild.”

    That’s certainly possible, Zeder says. “Taming can be a pathway to domestication.” But she cautions against reading too much into one find. “It’s just a single specimen in a very special context. Talking about domestication might be stretching it.” If the Hopewell really viewed the bobcat as a pet, she says, they would probably have buried it in the same place as their dogs. Instead, she suspects that the cat may have had a symbolic status, perhaps representing a connection to the spiritual world of the wild. “This could be more of a cosmological association.”

    Jean-Denis Vigne, a zooarchaeologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, calls the find “a very unique and important discovery.” He says it reminds him of hunter-gatherer societies in South America that bring young monkeys and other wild animals into their homes, rearing and sometimes breastfeeding them as a way to thank nature for bountiful game and crops. Still, Vigne says he’s not aware of people burying these animals. “There’s a lot that still needs to be explored.”

    Unfortunately, further work on the bobcat may not be possible. The museum where the bones are housed is facing a shutdown due to state budget cuts, and Perri says she can no longer access the samples. Public groups and museum staff are fighting hard to stop the closure, she says.” Science Magazine 

  • Great Britain is Manasseh – United States is Ephraim or Land of Joseph

    Great Britain is Manasseh – United States is Ephraim or Land of Joseph

    We have been given tremendous blessings with which the Lord has prepared us, the Children of Israel, to do a great work. The importance of the Old Testament, New Testament and, Another Testament, all three come together for us to understand that the Land of Joseph is indeed the united States of America and through Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, we will build the New Jerusalem. Understanding where Ephraim and Manasseh are located today, is critical in knowing our divine heritage and what part we will play in the gathering of Israel. A most important duty according to our Prophet Russell M. Nelson, said, “My dear young brothers and sisters, these surely are the latter days, and the Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.” Hope of Israel By President Russell M. Nelson June 3, 2018 

    Elder McConkie also said, “A great nation (the United States of America) shall be set up… by the power of God, so that the gospel may be restored, the Book of Mormon come forth, its message go to the American remnant of Jews, that the eternal covenants of the Lord with his people might be fulfilled.” “The remnant of Jacob, including the Lamanites in the Americas”, will assist in the gathering of Israel to the promised land  New Jerusalem.” McConkie, Bruce R., Mortal Messiah, Book 4, 1981, pp. 348-349, 358

    The Land of Joseph

    “The Book of Mormon tells us that America is a land of promise, a land choice above all other lands. Nephi said that whosoever should possess it must serve the God of the land or they would be swept off. And we have read in the Book of Mormon of the nations that have been swept off because they ceased to worship the God who had led them and their forefathers here to this land. We have a great responsibility as citizens in this land, for the Lord said that he would fight its battles and be its king, if we will just serve him. So it’s appropriate at this time that we express our appreciation for this great land. I like the words Moses used when he gave a blessing to the twelve tribes of Israel. When he blessed Joseph, he promised him a new land in the utmost bowels of the everlasting hills (see Deut. 33:15).

    Now that isn’t in Jerusalem because they don’t have everlasting hills over there, and the prophets have never predicted a regathering of all nations to the land of Israel. But they have predicted the gathering of Israel to this land of America, which is the land of Joseph. And we are the only people in the world who know what that land is that Moses promised to Joseph. It was so great in his eyes as he received the revelations of the Holy Spirit that in describing the land, he used the word “precious” five times in just four verses…We have so much to be grateful for. We are not here by chance. We are here because of the sacrifices of our pioneer fathers who came to this choice land that the Lord, according to the Book of Mormon, had hidden away from the eyes of the world that it should not be overrun. He preserved it for us, for the day and time in which we now live here in these valleys of the mountains.” Thanksgiving LEGRAND RICHARDS of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Nov. 18, 1980 • Devotional

    Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “Now, what of the promise of possession of certain lands? Territorial inheritance destined for the sons of Israel provided property in the Holy Land for Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, and Benjamin. But where was the inheritance for Joseph? From the Book of Mormon we learn that his inheritance was this land in the American hemisphere (see Ether 13:8)—identified as being choice above all other lands (see Ether 1:42, 10:28, 13:2; D&C 38:20). It was choice, but not necessarily from the standpoint of scenery or wealth. It was choice because it was chosen. America was to serve as the repository of sacred records written on metallic plates. It one day was to become the location for the restoration of the gospel. It was to host headquarters of the Lord’s restored church”.   Russell M. Nelson was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was delivered at Brigham Young University on 22 November 1988.    

    “His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” Deut 33:17  

    Abraham, Covenant of

    “Abraham first received the gospel by baptism (which is the covenant of salvation). Then he had conferred upon him the higher priesthood, and he entered into celestial marriage (which is the covenant of exaltation), gaining assurance thereby that he would have eternal increase. Finally he received a promise that all of these blessings would be offered to all of his mortal posterity (D&C 132:29–50; Abr. 2:6–11). Included in the divine promises to Abraham were the assurances that:
    (1) Christ would come through his lineage, and that
    (2) Abraham’s posterity would receive certain lands as an eternal inheritance (Gen. 17; 22:15–18; Gal. 3; Abr. 2).

    These promises taken together are called the “Abrahamic covenant.” It was renewed with Isaac (Gen. 26:1–4, 24) and again with Jacob (Gen. 28; 35:9–13; 48:3–4).

    The portions of the covenant that pertain to personal salvation and eternal increase are renewed with each individual who receives the ordinance of celestial marriage (see D&C 132:29–33). Those of non-Israelite lineage, commonly known as Gentiles, are adopted into the house of Israel and become heirs of the covenant and the seed of Abraham through the ordinances of the gospel (Gal. 3:26–29).

    Being an heir to the Abrahamic covenant does not make one a “chosen person” per se but does signify that such are chosen to responsibly carry the gospel to all the peoples of the earth. Abraham’s seed have carried out the missionary activity in all the nations since Abraham’s day. (Matt. 3:9; Abr. 2:9–11.)” LDS Bible dictionary Abrahamic, Covenant

    The Gospel 4-Principles, 2-Ordinances

    4 Principles
    Faith
    Repentance
    Baptism
    Gift of Holy Ghost
    2 Ordinances
    Endowment
    Sealing

    Before we speak about Great Britain, we will address the division of land in the Old World. We know that Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph who was one of the twelve sons of Jacob or Israel. Below we read about the blessing given to Ephraim and Manasseh and then the blessing given to their father Joseph by Jacob.

    Blessing of Manasseh and Ephraim

    17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

    18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

    19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

    20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. Genesis 48:17-20

    What was Joseph’s Blessing?

    “Joseph is a fruitful bough by a well—His branches (the Nephites and Lamanites) will run over the wall” Genesis 49 Content Header

    22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

    No Joseph or Levi on Map

    23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

    24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

    25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

    26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Genesis 49:22-26

    “To the Latter-day Saints the blessing of Joseph [in Genesis 49] has a particular significance, for the reason that they, more than any other people, are familiar with his descendants, and the blessing promised them in which also they hope to participate. The Book of Mormon is a history, chiefly, of the descendants of Joseph; and in the mighty nations which have peopled the American continent, the Latter-day Saints see, in part, the fulfillment of the great blessings pronounced upon his head.

    Purchase Today!

    The article reviews Book of Mormon passages that refer to the seed of Jacob through Joseph coming to a promised land, including the comments made by the Savior when he visited them after his resurrection. Additional passages are reviewed that discuss the additional blessings pronounced upon Joseph by Moses. The author then says:

    But what seems singular in connection with these promises made to Joseph and the account of their partial fulfillment in a portion of his posterity inhabiting America is, that after the nations, composed largely of his descendants, had been destroyed and other peoples from Europe—among whom, however, were also large numbers of the descendants of Joseph through the loins of Ephraim—had taken possession of the land, at the real establishment of that government which is destined to shape the destiny of the great continent of America—the land of Joseph—the very first executive chosen for that nation when being sworn to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of this land which God had inspired men to frame, he [George Washington] placed his hand upon the very page of the Bible containing the blessing pronounced upon the head of Joseph by the patriarch Jacob. … B. H. Roberts. Contributor, vol. 10, p. 275: (Emphasis added) Source:

    “Certain lands were given to Israel for an inheritance in time and in eternity. America is the land of Joseph; it was the home of Nephite Israel, who were of Joseph, for a thousand years, and it is the headquarters of the Church in this final dispensation in which the church and kingdom of God are in the lands of Ephraim.” 1985 – Elder Bruce R. McConkie

    12 Tribes of Israel 

    We understand there were 12 Tribes of Israel. Two Tribes didn’t receive a Land inheritance! (Joseph and Levi)

    “Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them.” Joshua 13:14

    By Ken Corbett

    “So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.” Joshua 16:4. The House of Ephraim and the House of Manasseh each received a land inheritance.

    In other words because Levi and Joseph didn’t receive one of 12 portions of land, that left only 10 portions given. As Joshua 16:4 says those two portions were given to Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And as Pres. Nelson said in his quote below, “Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. [USA] Pres. Russell M. Nelson

    Land of Joseph Again

    “The Book of Mormon reveals that Joseph, the son of Jacob who was once sold into Egypt, foresaw the Prophet Joseph Smith and his day and noted that there would be many similarities in their lives. Centuries later, the Prophet Joseph stated, “I feel like Joseph in Egypt.” The Book of Mormon reveals that the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. It was choice not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but choice because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. It was choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was choice because it is a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, addresses new Mission Presidents June 22 through June 26, 2016 (Emphasis added)

    This quote to me clearly shows that the Land chosen for Joseph of Egypt was indeed CHOICE above all others including any land in Canaan and indeed it was to be the United States of America, the place of Joseph Smith, the gold plates, Salt Lake City and this choice land of liberty.

    “Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; [North America] and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city [New Jerusalem] unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.” Ether 13:8 Bold and Parentheses added.

    “The Lord gave a divine promise to the ancient inhabitants of this favored country (the United States): ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12).

    The article below makes a lot of sense. I urge you to read, ponder, and pray and see the value it may have for your understanding of the brotherhood between Great Britain and the United States of America.

    Great Britain….The Blessing Given to Manasseh, Not Ephraim

    By Joey Thompson

    “To most Believers in The Most High and His Son, the debate as to which country matches which of Joseph’s sons (Ephraim or Manasseh) simply isn’t all that important. Fact is, Most Believers wouldn’t care…..but they should. For, wrapped up in this debate is, what I would call, the greatest mystery in all of scripture, which if a Believers comes to understand, it opens up the entirety of the Bible. Suddenly, the Bible makes sense, far more than it ever could before.

    I have chosen to deal with Great Britain first because Manasseh was first born and Great Britain was a nation first, long before America.

    We’ll begin by stating an often overlooked point. The meaning of the name Manasseh, which is forgetful or he who forgets. This is so important because Great Britain has so much symbolism right before their very eyes and yet, they have forgotten who they are……And when I say, they have forgotten, I mean, the last few generations have forgotten. Generations of Brits long ago certainly did know. Here is evidence of that fact.

    The Declaration of Arbroath

    Have you ever heard of The Declaration of Arbroath? We today, might call it The Scottish Declaration of Independence. Scotland declared its independence from Great Britain in 1320 of the common era and in the third paragraph, the authors, Robert the Bruce, Sir James Douglas, and Sir Thomas Randolph, and others, very plainly state the following:

    “Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today.”

    The full English text of The Declaration of Arbroath can be seen here:

    Staying on the Scottish theme, Joseph’s coat of many colors hold the pattern of the plaid kilt. The following article is an excellent source on this subject: http://www.britam.org/tartan.html#Term

    Thus is it suffice to say, as a subheading to Great Britain, Scotland lends itself to the tribe of Joseph specifically more than any of the other nations.

    Now, let’s identify another characteristic of Manasseh which I believe to be proof positive of who the Brits are in this Genesis 48 prophecy. Take a look at how the 12 tribes were to be laid out right after Israel settled in the middle eastern promised land given to Abraham (which is not the same promise made to Israel in Deuteronomy 8, by the way).

    Do you see how the Jordan river divides east Manasseh from west Manasseh? As we shall see in our studies, The Jordan is a type of the Atlantic Ocean. There is an eastern Manasseh, Great Britain and there is a western Manasseh, which is one half of British Canada, and Ephraim is on the western side of that typological Atlantic Ocean, which would be America.

    Next, take a look at Deuteronomy 33:17. This should clinch the matter as to which nation is Manasseh and which is Ephraim. The text is the last verse of the blessing Moses pronounced on Joseph and His two sons. It says this:

    “As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his, And his horns are the horns of the wild ox; With them he will push the peoples, All at once, to the ends of the earth. And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”

    The firstborn of Joseph was of course Manasseh. He was the one who pushed the envelope for conquering the entire world. At one point, it could be said of The British Empire, The sun never sets…..Meaning, their conquered territory was so vast, there was always a country governed by Great Britain, on which the sun was shining at any given point in the day. This is what is meant by “All at once, to the ends of the earth.”

    However, Moses then makes a pronouncement of numbers which can only be understood at this end time (in the last 100 years). As Great Britain systematically lost all that vast territory as the New World of America opened up and became great, and the territory of America grew and over-spread throughout the world. The territory of people governed by America to that of The UK is ten times more, just as Moses prophesied it would be.

    A few other facts concerning Great Britain which point to a tie with Jacob/Israel, apart from the debate of which nation is Ephraim or Manasseh…

    1 — The word British is a compound Hebrew word. BRT in Hebrew means Covenant. Ish in Hebrew means man. Thus Britishish means Covenant Man, pointing back to the Abrahamic and Israelite covenants found in scripture.

    2 — The flag of Great Britain is called The Union Jack. Jack is a nickname for Jacob. Thus the Union Jack flag is representative of the Union of Jacob/Israel.

    3 — The Union Jack is an overlay of two symbols. The Christian Cross and the crossed X symbol which symbolized the crossed arms of Jacob as he blessed Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh.

    4 — All the Kings and Queens of Scotland and England have been coronated on the throne, which is said to be the throne of King David, which has The Stone of Scoon (Jacob’s Pillar Stone), sitting in its base, at the times each country had the throne in their possession. The two countries fought over this very throne for many, many years and it was overturned several times. Here is a picture of the throne of England:

    The Stone of Scone

    “Scottish Gaelic: An Lia Fàil; Scots: Stane o Scuin)—also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that has been used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland. It is also known as Jacob’s Pillow Stone and the Tanist Stone, and as clach-na-cinneamhain in Scottish Gaelic.

    Replica of the Stone of Scone at Scone Palace

    Historically, the artefact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland. It was seized by Edward I’s forces from Scone during the English invasion of Scotland in 1296, and was used in the coronation of the monarchs of England as well as the monarchs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, following the Treaty of Union of 1707. Its size is 26 in (66 cm) by 16.7 in (42 cm) by 10.5 in (26.7 cm) and its weight is approximately 335 lb (152 kg). A roughly incised cross is on one surface, and an iron ring at each end aids with transport.[1] Monarchs used to sit on the Stone of Scone itself until a wooden platform was added to the Coronation Chair in the 17th century.[2]

    In 1996, the British Government decided to return the stone to Scotland, when not in use at coronations, and it was transported to Edinburgh Castle, where it is now kept with the Scottish Crown Jewels. However, it has been announced that the stone is to be used for the coronation of Charles III at Westminster Abbey in 2023.” Wikipedia

    5 — Throne of England (Picture Right)

    6 — The Anglo Saxon tie to Great Britain is undeniable in history. The meanings of the words, Anglo and Saxon tell the story. Anglo means messenger and Saxon means Sons of Isaac, Sac’s sons. Thus the Anglo Saxons are messengers of the sons of Isaac. Take a look at Genesis 21:12:

    “But YHWH said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.”

    There is so much more evidence pointing to the fact, not only that Great Britain is an Israelite nation, but more specifically, how it is the fulfillment of the blessing Jacob/Israel gave to His Grandson, Manasseh.

    Joey Thompson https://medium.com/@joeythompson_51343/great-britain-the-blessing-given-to-manasseh-not-ephraim-16369a246089

    The more we understand our lineage and our role in the Lord’s kingdom, the more we can assist the Lord in His work. A few quotes from a great article that explains our role in the House of Israel is below from Daniel Ludlow. Source Here

    Who Is a Literal Descendant of Abraham by Birth?

    In the scriptures, a literal descendant of Abraham is often referred to by the word Hebrew, a word derived from the same root as Eber. (See Gen. 10:21.) The first time the word is used in the Bible (in Gen. 14:13) it refers to Abraham himself. In Genesis 39:14 [Gen. 39:14] it refers to Joseph, a great-grandson of Abraham. Rather consistently throughout the remainder of the scriptures, Hebrews is used to refer to those who are direct, literal descendants of Abraham.

    The descendants of Abraham (Hebrews) include anyone whose lineage goes back to any of the sons born to Abraham and his three wives. These wives and their sons, listed in the order of the wives’ marriages to Abraham, are as follows: from Sarah—Isaac; from Hagar—Ishmael; from Keturah—Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

    Please note that the descendants of Abraham include many, many more peoples than those who are descended from Isaac, the son who is discussed most in the Bible. Entire nations are directly descended from Abraham, including citizens of the numerous Arab countries and those from multitudinous groups who have intermarried into other cultures and races.

    “What special responsibilities are held by Ephraimites in this dispensation?”

    President Joseph Fielding Smith and others have made it abundantly clear that the descendants of Ephraim hold the presiding keys to carry forth the work of the Restoration and of the gathering of Israel in the last days. His statement is as follows:

    “The members of the Church, most of us of the tribe of Ephraim, are of the remnant of Jacob. We know it to be the fact that the Lord called upon the descendants of Ephraim to commence his work in the earth in these last days. We know further that he has said that he set Ephraim, according to the promises of his birthright, at the head. Ephraim receives the ‘richer blessings,’ these blessings being those of presidency or direction. The keys are with Ephraim. It is Ephraim who is to be endowed with power to bless and give to the other tribes, including the Lamanites, their blessings. All the other tribes of Jacob, including the Lamanites, are to be crowned with glory in Zion by the hands of Ephraim. …

    “That the remnants of Joseph, found among the descendants of Lehi, will have part in this great work is certainly consistent, and the great work of this restoration, the building of the temple and the City of Zion, or New Jerusalem, will fall to the lot of the descendants of Joseph, but it is Ephraim who will stand at the head and direct the work.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:250–51; italics in original removed.)

    From what the prophets have said, then, most members of the Church come from Gentile nations, but they have some Israelite ancestors in their lineage. Therefore, they are not “assigned to” or “adopted into” the house of Israel. They are legal heirs of the covenant, and the lineage proclaimed in their patriarchal blessings identifies the blood line that ties them back to Abraham.

    While identifying the Lamanites as some of the children of Abraham, President Spencer W. Kimball wrote:

    “The Lamanite is a chosen child of God, but he is not the only chosen one. There are many other good people including the Anglos, the French, the German, and the English, who are also of Ephraim and Manasseh. They, with the Lamanites, are also chosen people, and they are a remnant of Jacob. The Lamanite is not wholly and exclusively the remnant of Jacob which the Book of Mormon talks about. We are all of Israel! We are of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph through Ephraim and Manasseh. We are all of us remnants of Jacob.” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982, pp. 600–601.)

    “The Lord gave a divine promise to the ancient inhabitants of this favored country (the United States): ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12).

    “Our Heavenly Father inspired the leaders of…the United States of America, that they might together, under His direction, having been raised up by God for the purpose, establish the Constitution of this country and…Bill of Rights, that by the year of our Lord 1805 [there would be] a climate where our Heavenly Father could send into this period of mortality a choice spirit who would be known as Joseph Smith, Jr.” 2011 President Thomas S. Monson (ordained an Apostle, 1963; ordained President of the Church, 2008)

    “We are not told where Lehi was born and raised, but we do know that he was not a member of the tribe of Judah. Lehi’s tribe was Manasseh (Alma 10:3), one of the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, whose population had been deeply humiliated and partially taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.” They Came from Jerusalem: Some Old World Perspectives on the Book of Mormon By John W. Welch

    Proof Scotland is Judah
    It was prophesied that Ephraim and Manasseh would go to war against Judah.  This has happened many times.  The Milesians who settled Ireland were a tribe of Judah.  We know the Irish people moved into the land of Scotland.  For further proof see our teaching on the Trojan Kings. Ephraim and Manasseh both lived in the land of Britain and for many centuries went to war with Scotland. Also many of the Scottish Irish people moved to America and settled in the Mountains of Tennessee.  The American Civil War was a war between Ephraim in the north and Judah in the South!!

    Isa_9:21  Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

    Ephraim and Manessah

    MANASSEH AND THE UNITED STATES

  • A Cochapa- Lamanite or Nephite?

    A Cochapa- Lamanite or Nephite?

    It really doesn’t matter whether in this story about a Cochapa Indian, whether he is a Nephite or a Lamanite. I just thought it was a catchy title. The story below explains what the significance is. We are all children of our Father in Heaven and He loves us all.

    As I researched these Cochapa Indians, my heart reached out to them. They seem to be some of the least worldly and most humble people on the earth. With all the poverty and despair these wonderful people were born into, it is so great to see them rise above it with a firm testimony of the only things that are important. How would we compare to these good people? Are we sufficiently humble? Are we higher and mightier as a people considering all the amazing worldly possessions we have? No. These good Native Americans will be our leaders in the next life. We will learn at their hands on how to love the Lord and be humble. I honor and respect all Native Americans and love the Spirit they bring to me.

    A Cocopah Indian Hut El Centro, CA

    Life Beyond by Robert Millet And Joseph Fielding McConkie About a Cochapa Indian

    I was made aware of this great article by a good friend named York Bennett.

    “Teaching Those of Our Own Nation and Tongue The heavens have decreed that “every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power” (D&C 90:11). We have every reason to suppose that such decrees transcend the veil of death. Those in that world will also be taught by those of their same nation and tongue. A manifestation given to Oscar W. McConkie while he was serving as president of the California Mission sustains such a conclusion.

    A Cochapa Indian by the name of Mark Johnson Vest was baptized in President McConkie’s mission, which at that time included parts of Arizona. Mark Vest was a giant of a man with a spirit to match. He stood six feet five inches tall and weighed over three hundred pounds. By birth he would have been the chief of his tribe had his people been following the traditions of their fathers. After he had been in the Church a short time he was called to be the branch president over a small Indian branch. Within six months he had increased increased the branch to seventy-five members. Brother Vest became ill and in the course of his illness lost over a hundred pounds. Both President McConkie and Elder Harold B. Lee administered to him but without lasting effect. Despite his illness, Mark Vest continued in his work with his people until his death a short time later.

    He is a Nephite

    When President McConkie received word that Mark had died he immediately boarded a train for Arizona to attend the funeral. All night long as he traveled, he prayed to know why the Lord had allowed this great missionary to be taken. As he prayed, a vision was opened to him of the spirit world. He saw Mark Johnson Vest standing in front of a large group of Lamanites, which he estimated to be twenty to thirty thousand. As he did so, one of the Indians in the middle of the group stood up and said: “Do not listen to this man! He is not a Lamanite. He is a Nephite!”

    President McConkie saw Mark Vest rise to the full stature of his height and say: “I am not a Nephite! I am a Lamanite, and when I died I was cremated according to the custom of my people.” At this point the vision closed up. Upon his arrival in Mesa, and as he drove to the chapel where the funeral was to be held, President McConkie was advised of a conflict between Mark Vest’s tribe and the tribe from which his wife came. Mark’s family wanted him buried in a cemetery while his wife’s people wanted to cremate his body according to their traditions. The matter had become so heated that Mark’s wife’s tribe had threatened to dig up his body and take it if their demands were not met. When they arrived at the chapel President McConkie learned that he was to be the speaker. In his sermon, he was able to resolve the difficulty, explaining the importance of Mark complying even in death with the customs of those among whom he had now been called to labor.

    Conclusion Peter’s simple statement that those in the spirit world are to “be judged according to men in the flesh” speaks volumes. If judgment is the same and, as we have learned from the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead, the gospel is the same; and if the source of the gospel is the same, that is, revelation; and if the authority by which it is preached is the same; and if all men are to be taught by the prophets and missionaries of their own dispensation; and if we know that the nature or disposition of men does not change—would we not reason that the degree of ease or difficulty associated with accepting the gospel will be the same also? Surely the justice of God demands it! We could not suppose that those who did not have the opportunity to hear the gospel in this life—who would have accepted it had that chance come to them—will find themselves in a situation that would make it infinitely more difficult in the spirit world. Nor could justice be found in a system demanding of some that they accept the gospel on earth in the most trying of circumstances—being called upon.” Life Beyond by Robert Millet And Joseph Fielding McConkie

    Cremation

    I learn a few important points from this vision of Elder McConkie’s. It matters not whether we have a burial service or a cremated body with a service. The important thing is receiving the proper show of love and respect for the loved ones who have lost their friend, brother, or father. I feel knowing this is an opportunity for each of us to now judge which is the best way to be buried.

    I have a daughter in law who wanted her mother cremated and it was a beautiful service. I also have an uncle who wanted cremation and, as his power of attorney I met his wishes and he was cremated. Many of my extended family didn’t like this but I was giving my uncle respect by giving him as he chose.

    Expo Tickets Here

    Spirit World

    “A vision given to President Joseph F. Smith in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 3, 1918. In his opening address at the 89th Semiannual General Conference of the Church, on October 4, 1918, President Smith declared that he had received several divine communications during the previous months. One of these, concerning the Savior’s visit to the spirits of the dead while His body was in the tomb” Heading to D&C Section 138

    We realize that this life includes the time we spend in the Spirit World as part of this same existence. After death we continue to live and are still a huge part of this earth. As a Spirit we are preparing names and assisting people with helping temple work go forward, teaching and learning the gospel, and dong the things we cant accomplish in this earthly existence.

    Blossoming as a Rose

    “Our western tribes of Indians are descendants from that Joseph which was sold into Egypt, and that the land of America is a promised land unto them.” HC 1:301-315. I believe the “blossoming as a rose” has come in the past and continues today in the Spirit world. Read the scripture below very carefully.

    “Joseph Smith contemplated the state of the Lamanites and wondered: “When will the wilderness blossom as the rose? When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will Thy temple stand, unto which all nations shall come in the last days?” Subsequently he received this revelation.” Heading to D&C Section 57

    “Thus provide for my saints, that my gospel may be preached unto those who sit in darkness and in the region and shadow of death.” D&C 57:10

    “But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose” D&C 49:24

    When will the blossoming of a rose take place? It’s clear in verse 24 above. Before the great day of the Lord, and speaking of today, that still is happening, correct?  And when Jacob will flourish, which is still happening today isn’t it?

    Has the blossoming happened? Yes! Look at the story a Cochapa Indian, Mark Vest above. Rod Meldrum shares his story about how he found the names of 85 Native American’s temple records from 1877. I also believe the 85 Indian Chiefs baptized Aug 29, 1877 at the St. George Temple, one week after the Founding Fathers, opened the door to this blossoming as a rose. Read the Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 554 or, my detailed story at my blog here: https://www.bofm.blog/85-native-american-chiefs-baptized-at-the-st-george-temple/

    Joseph Smith sees the Blossoming as a Rose

    “But what did he see in the way of fulfillment for his efforts? In mortality he saw very little, but in vision he must have seen the Lamanites “blossom as a rose” (D&C 49:24). Byron R. Merrill, “Joseph Smith and the Lamanites,” in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 187–202

    Elder Alma O. Taylor said, “The following is an outline of the prayer, as I remember it… (O) “Spoke of the righteousness of Lehi and of the great faith of Nephi in doing whatsoever the Lord commanded him. Also spoke of those, who, because of iniquity, had been cut off from among the Nephites and cursed with a dark skin, like unto the Lamanites, the blood of Lehi and Nephi had been transmitted unto the people of this land, many of whom have the features and manners of the American Indians. Asked the Lord that if this were true, that he would not forget the integrity of his servants Lehi and Nephi, and would verify the promises made unto them concerning their descendants in the last days, upon this people, for we felt that they were a worthy nation.” Dedication of Japan Temple by Heber J. Grant Journal of Elder Alma O. Taylor, Relief Society Magazine JANUARY, 1921, pg. 199-203

    Read of many more instances of miracles amongst the modern day Native American here.

    Remeber the Hinterlands

    Most Native Americans in the United States who live west of the Mississippi River, would be considered living in the “Hinterlands.” This simply means they lived outside of the heartland of the United States where the Nephites began living. Through wandering, marriage, interbreeding, there are many wonderful Lamanites that live all over the world. This is why in many of the Temple Dedications the Prophets say the blood of Lehi is in Mexico, Brazil Canada, and other places all over the Western Hemisphere.

    There is DNA found in the Eastern Nations of the Algonquian, Iroquois and Muskogean Nations, that is similarly found in Israel and the West Eurasian Nations. See article here; https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/131120-science-native-american-people-migration-siberia-genetics

    “Hinterlands is defined here as meaning the unknown area of North and South America that are not within the scope of the writings of the Book of Mormon. In other words, since we believe main events of the Book of Mormon happened in a limited area of North America around the Great Lakes  in the east,  and Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri to the west, and south in Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, and Florida, all other areas will be discussed as “The Hinterlands”. We propose that Mesoamerica is the Hinterlands along with many other areas of the continent. As Mormon has said, “…I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people (Words of Mormon 1:5).  There are many people in South and Central America that are Lamanites and part of the Hinterlands.” Jonathan Neville

    In other words, if the Book of Mormon events took place in Mesoamerica, then every other area would be the “Hinterlands” where other Lamanites may have migrated and lived. If however the events of the Book of Mormon took place in the Heartland of the United States (As we believe they did), then every other area outside of this limited Heartland area would contain migrating Lamanites, including the western United States, Canada, Mexico, and South and Central America. Heartland Core – Where the main Nephite and Lamanite events occured! Mesoamerican Periphery – Where Nephites and Lamanites migrated to outside of this core! (See map above right)

    Who are the Yuman–Cochimí?

    Yuman–Cochimí languages

    With the powerful story about Mark Vest above, I wanted to find out a little more about his Cochapa ancestry.

    The Yuman–Cochimí languages are a family of languages spoken in Baja California, northern Sonora, southern California, and western Arizona. Although only Cochimí is no longer spoken, going extinct in the late 18th century, all other Yuman languages are nearly extinct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuman%E2%80%93Cochim%C3%AD_languages

    COCOPAH INDIAN TRIBE OF ARIZONA HISTORY
    The Cocopah (Kwapa), also known as the River People, have long lived along the lower Colorado River and delta. For centuries, the Cocopah people, described as generous and non-materialistic, have maintained their traditional and cultural beliefs through the various political environments and ever-changing landscapes.

    The Cocopah Indian Tribe is one of seven descendant Tribes from the greater Yuman language-speaking people who occupied lands along the Colorado River. Cocopah Tribal ancestors also lived along the Lower Colorado River region near the river delta and the Gulf of California. The Cocopah people had no written language, however, historical records were passed on orally or interpreted in documents written by outside visitors.

    Diaries and journals kept by travelers along the Colorado River and migrants into the West documented the Cocopah people. Spanish explorer Hernando de Alarcon, a member of Coronado’s marine expedition, traveled the river in 1540 and described members of the Cocopah Indian Tribe as tall, well-built people who carried wooden maces and bows and arrows. The men wore loincloths and the women wore willow bark skirts. The explorer and his crew were offered gifts of shells, beads, well-tanned leathers and food.

    When Don Juan de Onate and Father Escobar sailed up the river, there were estimated to be about 6,000-7,000 Cocopah people living along the delta and the lower Colorado River. Fellow travelers, such as Father Kino, Father Garces, fur trapper James O’Patte, military men and ethnographers, kept colorful records from 1540-1917.

    Westward expansion in the 1840s and the discovery of gold in California in 1849 brought many migrants through the area near the mouth of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon region. The strategic importance of the river crossing was recognized by the U.S. government, and the United States Army established Camp Independence in 1850 to protect the entry route through the tribe’s territories. The following year the camp was moved to the site of an old Spanish Mission later named Fort Yuma, which still stands today.

    Throughout the mid 1800s and early 1900s, the Cocopah Indian Tribe effectively resisted assimilation to an established reservation and maintained its social, religious and cultural identities.

    In the last half of the nineteenth century, the steamboat business became important to the Cocopah people. Cocopah men, known for their skillful river navigating, were valued pilots.

    President Woodrow Wilson signed Executive Order No. 2711 in 1917 which established the Reservation. In 1985, the Cocopah Tribe gained an additional 4,200 acres, including the North Reservation, through the Cocopah Land Acquisition Bill signed by President Ronald Reagan.

    The Cocopah Tribe of Arizona is comprised of three noncontiguous bodies of land known as the North, West and East Reservations. Today, the East, West and North Reservations comprise over 6,500 acres, much of which is leased as agricultural land to non-Indian farmers. The Cocopah Reservation is located 13 miles south of Yuma, AZ, and 15 miles north of San Luis, Mexico, in Yuma County along the Colorado River. The reservation’s unique geographical location borders the United States, Mexico, Arizona and California.

    Historical records show that the Cocopah domain once included portions of Arizona, southern California and Sonora, Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo divided the U.S.-Mexican border and the Cocopah lands between the two countries in 1848. Since 1930, the Cocopah (U.S.) and the Cucapá (Mexico) peoples have been forced to end Tribal unity.

    In 1964, the Cocopah Indian Tribe founded its first Constitution and formed a five-person Tribal Council. The Cocopah Tribal Seal, similar to the U.S. flag in America, represents the sovereign Cocopah Nation.

    As recently as the 1960s, a number of tribal families lived in traditional arrow weed-thatched homes, and until 1968, there were few houses and gravel roads. In the late 1970s and 1980s, the Tribe began acquiring additional land, constructing homes, installing utilities, developing an infrastructure system and initiating economic development. The hexagonal Tribal Administration Building was completed in 1976. Currently, there are about 1,000 enrolled Cocopah Tribal members who live and work on or near the three reservations.

    Yuman-Cochimi Languages

    Where are the Yuman-Cochimi languages spoken?

    These languages are spoken by indigenous peoples of North America in the valley of the Colorado River in California, and in western Arizona in the United States; and in the north of the states of Sonora and Baja California in Mexico.

    Who speaks these languages?

    The speakers of Yuman-Cochimi languages are members of the Yuman-Cochimí “First Nations” in North America.

    Total number of speakers (estimated):
    Approximately 2800 according to UNESCO

    Classification
    The Yuman-Cochimi language family currently consists of 10 languages.

    Yuman Sub-family
    California Delta Branch

    California Yuman (alternate name: Diegueño)

    ‘Iipay (alternate names: Northern Diegueño; Ipai): 6 speakers according to UNESCO
    Kumeyaay (alternate names: Central Eastern Diegueño): 40 speakers according to UNESCO
    Tiipay (alternate names: Southern Diegueño; tipai): 184 speakers according to UNESCO Delta yuman
    Delta Yuman (alternate name: Cocopa): 206 speakers according to UNESCO

    Colorado River Branch

    Maricopa : 100 speakers according to UNESCO
    Mojave (alternate name: Mohave): 100 according to UNESCO
    Yuma (alternate names: Kwstan; Kwstaan; Quechan): 150 to 200 people according to UNESCO

    Pai Branch

    Upland Yuman (alternate name: North pai) : 1650 speakers according to UNESCO
    Paipai Akwa’ala: 226 speakers according to UNESCO
    Kiliwa: 56 speakers according to UNESCO

    Cochimi

    Cochimi: Extinct

    Comments on the classification of Yuman-Cochimi languages:

    The term “Hokan” describes a hypothetical set of language families that would include the Palaihnihan languages, but also Yuman-Cochimi languages and some isolated languages of the western United States (primarily from California and north-western Mexico). The lack of data on many of these languages makes the exact delineation of this proposed family difficult to establish. Mithun (1999) notes that the “Hokan” group is “not yet considered to be a valid language family” (p 304). We follow Mithun’s classification here, and therefore present the Palaihnihan language family independently.

    Are Yuman-Cochimi languages in danger?

    Yes, Cochin is an extinct language, and ‘lipay is very close to extinction as it is spoken by only a handful of very elderly speakers. All Yuman-Cochimí languages are considered as “critically endangered” by UNESCO (level 4 on a scale of 5) or “seriously endangered” (level 3). That is to say they are threatened with extinction in the decades to come. Only the Northern Pai dialect group is slightly less threatened immediately, but the younger generations no longer learn the different dialects and for most English is their first language.

    Sources:

    Mithun, Marianne The languages of Native North America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (1999).

    Campbell, Lyle. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1997)

    Site devoted to American Indian languages:

    http://www.native-languages.org/

    Yuman-Cochimi Languages

  • Did Abraham Receive the Birthright?

    Did Abraham Receive the Birthright?

    The title of this blog is, Did Abraham Receive the Birthright? The quick and simple possible answer is, “Abraham never did receive the birthright, though he was in line to receive it. Hence, it passed directly from Shem to Isaac.” Dr. Stephen E. Jones. 

    Although Dr. Jones shares his opinion, I feel it is very possible it contains much truth. However, nothing is more true than studying the KJV Bible and Book of Mormon with the Spirit of God. My and opinions in this blog do not represent the belief of The FIRM Foundation nor The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This information is given as a personal opinion and it is up to you to discern truth with your own personal revelation.

    To me the idea about the birthright is a very interesting finding of Dr. Jones. I had never even thought about whether Abraham had the birthright, as I always assumed he did. Knowing that Shem outlived Abraham makes this a very possible scenario.

    The title of this blog could also be, was Shem and Melchizedek the same person?

    I had always wondered about whether Shem and Melchizedek was the same person? I wrote a blog in 2019 where I said, “I haven’t decided myself the answer to this question, but it is an interesting discussion about significant leaders of the ancient church. It seems to me it is more likely they are the same person, but I would like some discussion about your opinion.”  Since reading Dr. Jones’ book called, “The Struggle for the Birthright” by Stephen E. Jones, I have come up with a very favorable answer of I feel it makes sense that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person. You will also see the importance of the book of Jasher. Read below for your own answers.

    LDS Dictionary

    “Shem was the traditional ancestor of the Shemitic or Semitic races, a group of kindred nations, which includes the Arabs, the Hebrews and Phoenicians, the Arameans or Syrians, the Babylonians and Assyrians. The languages spoken by these various nations were closely related and were known as the Semitic languages. In latter-day revelation Shem is referred to as “the great high priest” LDS Bible Dictionary “Shem”

    Distribution of Semitic languages.

    Shem was Melchizedek by Stephen E. Jones

    To show that Shem was the Melchizedek of Gen. 14:18, we will quote from Jasher 16:11, 12, which tells us the story of Abram’s meeting with Melchizedek after freeing Lot :“And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melech. And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God.”

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    Many people have misunderstood Melchizedek, thinking him to be Jesus Christ incarnate. Their belief is based upon a misreading of Heb. 7:1-8. Verse 3 says Melchisedec was: “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life; but made like the Son of God.” (NASB)

    This must be taken in the context of verse 6. Heb. 7:6 says in the KJV, ” But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham.” The NASB reads, ” But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham.” In other words, Melchisedec’s genealogy is not counted, traced, or RECORDED by the biblical writer, and in this way is he also a type of Christ. It does NOT say that Melchisedec literally had no parents. It only says that he merely appears out of nowhere in the biblical text, with no explanation of who he was or who were his parents. This divine silence in the biblical text was done purposefully in order to make him a type of Christ, that is, ” one like the Son of God.”

    Shem himself lived to the ripe old age of 600 years. He was a century old when the flood came, and lived 500 years after the flood. If one charts the genealogies of Gen. 11, as we did on page 17 of Secrets of Time, we find that Shem outlived Abraham. In fact, Shem died when Isaac was 50 years old.

    Jewish traditions teach that Shem built Jerusalem, and he would therefore be its king. He was still alive during all of Abraham’s life. Therefore, it would only stand to reason that Abraham would pay tithes to him, for he was the true king of all the earth and was the birthright holder. In fact, because Shem outlived Abraham, Abraham never did receive the birthright, though he was in line to receive it. Hence, it passed directly from Shem to Isaac, and this is why the biblical narrative does not tell us about the birthright until Isaac’s sons fought over it.” The Struggle for the Birthright” Chapter 2; Shem was Melchizedek by Dr. Stephen E. Jones.

    Below are other articles that validate this opinion of mine. I think it is significant to understand the importance of Melchizedek, as he was and is a representative of Christ. Just think about the name of the Priesthood today.

    As The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said, “Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood.” Source

    Is it possible that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person?
    By Alma E. Gygi

    Melchizedek—Keeper of the Storehouse by Clark Kelley Price

    This question is frequently asked and is an interesting one. Let us examine first what we know about Shem. Although the Bible names Shem as the eldest son of Noah (Gen. 5:32), modern-day revelation places Japheth as the eldest (Moses 8:12). Both reports, however, are harmonious in naming Shem as the progenitor of Israel and in the fact that the priesthood descended through Shem to all the great patriarchs after Noah. (1 Chr. 1:24–27.) In this patriarchal order of priesthood, Shem stands next to Noah. He held the keys to the priesthood and was the great high priest of his day. 1

    Living contemporary with Shem was a man known as Melchizedek, who was also known as the great high priest. 2 The scriptures give us the details of Shem’s birth and ancestry but are silent as to his ministry and later life. Of Melchizedek, however, the opposite is true. Nothing is recorded about his birth or ancestry, even though the Book of Mormon states that he did have a father. (Alma 13:17–18.) Concerning his ministry and life we have several interesting and important facts. (Gen. 14:18–20; Heb. 7:1–4; Alma 13:17–18.)

    All of this provokes some questions and calls for answers. Were there two high priests presiding at the same time? Why is the record silent concerning Shem’s ministry? Why is nothing known concerning Melchizedek’s ancestry?

    Because of this state of knowledge on our part, many Saints and gospel scholars have wondered if these men were the same person. The truth is, we do not know the answer. But an examination of the scriptures is fascinating, because it seems to indicate that these men may have been one and the same. For example, here is the case for their oneness:

    1. The inheritance given to Shem included the land of Salem. Melchizedek appears in scripture as the king of Salem, who reigns over this area.
    2. Shem, according to later revelation, reigned in righteousness and the priesthood came through him. Melchizedek appears on the scene with a title that means “king of righteousness.”
    3. Shem was the great high priest of his day. Abraham honored the high priest Melchizedek by seeking a blessing at his hands and paying him tithes.
    4. Abraham stands next to Shem in the patriarchal order of the priesthood and would surely have received the priesthood from Shem; but D&C 84:5–17says Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek.
    5. Jewish tradition identifies Shem as Melchizedek.3
    6. President Joseph F. Smith’s remarkable vision names Shem among the great patriarchs, but no mention is made of Melchizedek.
    7. Times and Seasons (vol. 6, p. 746) speaks of “Shem, who was Melchizedek. …”

    On the other hand, there is a case for their being two distinct personalities. Many persons believe D&C 84:14 is proof that there are perhaps several generations between Melchizedek and Noah. The scripture says, “Which Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah.”

    If it does turn out that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person, this scripture should prove no stumbling block, because it could be interpreted to mean that priesthood authority commenced with Adam and came through the fathers, even till Noah, and then to Shem.

    I Have a Question answered by Alma E. Gygi, Salt Lake City businessman.

    Notes

    1. Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine (Deseret Book Co., 1919) p. 474.
    1. D&C 107:2; Heb. 7:4; Alma 13:17; Gen. 14:18–20.
    1. When Abraham returned from the war, Shem, or, as he is sometimes called, Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, priest of the Most High God. …” (Ginsberg, Legends of the Jews, p. 233.) “Jewish tradition pronounces Melchizedek to be a survivor of the Deluge, the patriarch Shem.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary, p. 393.) “And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem. …” (Book of Jasher 16:11.)

    The Connection between Melchizedek and Shem by Tim Barker

    Abram Blessed by Melchizedek by Unknown

    “…According to Jewish traditions, Melchizedek is Shem, the son of Noah, whom God consecrated to be a priest for ever, and who set up a kingdom on Salem.”(1) Included in his book on the Legends of Old Testament Characters, the Reverend Sabing Baring-Gould includes a quotation from the Targumim, stating, “Melchizedek, who was Shem, son of Noah, king of Jerusalem.” (2) Louis Ginzberg continues this tradition, in his Legends of the Bible (a condensed version of the 7-volume Legends of the Jews), stating that “when Abraham returned from the war, Shem, or, as he is sometimes called, Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, priest of God Most High, and king of Jerusalem, came forth to meet him with bread and wine.” (3) More recently, scholars Raphael Patai and Robert Graves note that, “others again say that Melchizedek (also known as Adoni-Zedek), was Abram’s ancestor Shem, and that he now taught Abram the duties of priesthood…” (4) Numerous other historical Jewish sources confirm this same teaching.

    In 1842, Elder John Taylor, then editor of the Times and Seasons, published the following:
    From this definite account of driving the “nations apart, when the ancient hills did bow,” all reflecting minds may judge that man was scattered over the whole face of the earth. And with the superior knowledge of men like Noah, Shem (who was Melchizedek) and Abraham, the father of the faithful, three contemporaries, holding the keys of the highest order of the priesthood… (5)

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    Other Latter-day Apostles have discussed this issue as well. Elder John A. Witdsoe stated: There is an old Hebrew tradition that Melchizedek was none other than Shem, the son of Noah. As far as the age of Shem is concerned, that is possible. Shem lived five hundred two years after the flood, and Abraham was born two hundred ninety-two years after the flood. Abraham, therefore, must have known Shem. (6)

    Prepare for 2023 Gospel Doctrine with our Newly Released, Annotated Edition of the New Testament.

    Tim Barker continues, “Additionally, Elder Alvin R. Dyer stated: Abraham, who was born of the chosen lineage of patriarchs, received the priesthood from Shem, or Melchizedek, who received it from Noah unto whom it had come through the lineage of the fathers from Enoch, unto whom it had come from Adam the first man through his son, Abel. (7)

    More recently and readily available, is the CES Institute Manual on the first half of the Old Testament. This manual outlines, amongst other things, 7 points for consideration relating to the identity of Shem and Melchizedek and commonalities between the two. The comments on this issue are based on an Ensign article, by Alma E. Gygi, entitled, “Is it possible that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person?” (8)

    Shem’s inheritance included the land of Salem, and Melchizedek was the king of Salem.
    Shem “reigned in righteousness” and Melchizedek’s name means “king of righteousness.”
    Shem was the great high priest of his day. Abraham honored the high priest Melchizedek by paying him tithes and seeking blessings at his hand.

    Abraham stands next to Shem in the patriarchal order of the priesthood and would likely have received the priesthood from him, but according to D&C 84:5-7, Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek.

    Jewish tradition identifies Shem as Melchizedek

    President Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the Redemption of the Dead (D&C 138), names Shem among the great patriarchs, but there is no mention of Melchizedek.

    Times and Seasons (official church periodical at this time), indicates that Shem was Melchizedek. (9)

    On the contrary, some Latter-day Saints, including Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, believes that the two are definitely separate individuals: There is an unsupported tradition to the effect that Melchizedek was the same person as Shem the son of Noah. That this could hardly have been the case is seen from the revelation which says: “Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah.” (D. & C. 84:14.) In other words, there seem to have been at least two generations between Melchizedek and Shem.(10)

    Also for consideration, E. Douglas Clark commented on the matter in his book, The Blessings of Abraham: Becoming a Zion People: Genesis 11:10-11 tells Shem’s life span in the same manner as it tells the life spans of the subsequent patriarchs, implying that Shem died (a passage left unchanged in the Joseph Smith Translation), while the JST Genesis 14 tells that Melchizedek was translated. Second, a latter-day revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 84:14 states that “Abraham received the [Melchizedek] Priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah, and from Noah till Enoch,” which seems to require at least two generations between Melchizedek and Noah. And third, in Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the redemption of the dead, he saw among the host of righteous post-mortal spirits Shem (D&C 138:41), who would not have been there had he been translated. The revelation does not mention seeing Elijah or Enoch or Moses, who, like Melchizedek, had been translated. (11)

    It is clear that with the diversity of opinion on the matter, that no definitive revelation has yet been received. As such, the scriptures are sought for further understanding, and where helpful, supplemental sources provide unique insights.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia seems to indicate that the connection was developed by the Rabbi’s to suit their own purposes:

    The Rabbins [Rabbi’s] identified Melchisedech with Sem, son of Noe, rather for polemic than historic reasons, since they wished to set themselves against what is said of him as a type of Christ “without father, without mother, without genealogy” (He., vii, 3).

    In the Epistle to the Hebrews the typical character of Melchisedech and its Messianic import are fully explained. Christ is “a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech” (Heb,. vii, 6; Ps., cix, 4); “a high priest forever”, etc. (Heb., vi, 20), …i.e. order or manner (Gesenius), not after the manner of Aaron. The Apostle develops his teaching in Heb., vii: Melchisedech was a type by reason (a) of his twofold dignity as priest and king, (b) by reason of his name, “king of justice”, (c) by reason of the city over which he ruled, “King of Salem, that is, king of peace” (v.2), and also (d) because he “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but likened unto the Son of God, continueth a priest forever” (v.3). The silence of Scripture about the facts of Melchisedech’s birth and death was a part of the divine plan to make him prefigure more strikingly the mysteries of Christ’s generation, the eternity of His priesthood.” (12)

    Interestingly, an early Jewish source, Flavius Josephus is completely silent regarding any connection between Shem and Melchizedek.

    James L. Kugel indicates that “some scholars have suggested that this was first done in the context of later Jewish-Christian polemics: if Melchizedek was actually Shem, then he was the ancestor of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the idea of a priesthood extending back through him was less disturbing to Jews than the notion of a “priest of God Most High” who lacked any connection to the Jewish people or the later levitical priesthood.” He goes on to say that:

    It seems likely, however, that Melchizedek’s identification with Shem actually came about before any Christian arguments existed (and certainly before the time when Christian arguments seemed to Jews to require refutation). After all, who was Melchizedek to early interpreters? Why was the genealogy of such an important person–the “priest of God Most High,” no less–not mentioned? Identifying him as Shem, whose genealogy was known, provided an answer, and an easily accepted one. (13)
    It is interesting to note that Kugel alludes to the idea that Melchizedek, “could be understood as an honorific title given to Shem…” (14)

    Whatever the connection is, it remains a mystery. As stated by Alma Gygi, “all of this provokes some questions and calls for answers. Were there two high priests presiding at the same time? Why is the record silent concerning Shem’s ministry? Why is nothing known concerning Melchizedek’s ancestry? Because of this state of knowledge on our part, many Saints and gospel scholars have wondered if these men were the same person. The truth is, we do not know the answer.” (15) When the answer comes, it should satisfy the arguments on either side of the matter.

    _______________________________________
    1 Rev. S. Baring-Gould, Legends of Old Testament Characters, From the Talmud and Other Sources (New York: MacMillan and Co., 1871), 2:1; see also Rev. S. Baring-Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, and Other Old Testament Characters From Various Sources (New York: James B. Millar & Co., 1884), 140-141
    2 Baring-Gould, Legends of Old Testament Characters, 2:1
    3 Louis Ginzberg, Legends of the Bible (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1956), 106
    4 Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), 147
    5 John Taylor, “Ancient Ruins,” Times and Seasons 5/23 (Dec 15, 1844):746
    6 John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, 3 Vols., ed. G. Homer Durham (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960), 232
    7 Alvin R. Dyer, Who Am I? (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1968), 400; also see Alvin R. Dyer, The Lord Speaketh (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1964), 284-291
    8 Alma E. Gygi, “Is it possible that Shem and Melchizedek are the same person?,” Ensign (November 1973), 15-16
    9 Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis-2 Samuel (Religion 301), Church Educational System (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2003), 67-68
    10 Bruce R. McConkie Mormon Doctrine, 2nd Ed. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), 475
    11 E. Douglas Clark, The Blessings of Abraham: Becoming A Zion People (American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2005), 267 fn 36
    12 John J. Tierney, “Melchisedech” The Catholic Encyclopedia, 15 Vols., eds. Charles G. Herbermann, et al (New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1913), 10:157
    13 James L. Kugel, Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible as it was at the Start of the Common Era (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 289-290
    14 Ibid, 290
    15 Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis-2 Samuel, 68

    LDS Bible Dictionary

    Melchizedek Blesses Abram by Walter R

    The LDS Bible dictionary says, under the heading Shem says, Name. Son of Noah (Gen. 5:29–32; 6:10; 7:13; 8:16; 9:26; Moses 8:12); his descendants (Gen. 10:21–31; 11:10–32; 1 Chr. 1:17; Luke 3:36). Shem was the traditional ancestor of the Shemitic or Semitic races, a group of kindred nations, which includes the Arabs, the Hebrews and Phoenicians, the Arameans or Syrians, the Babylonians and Assyrians. The languages spoken by these various nations were closely related and were known as the Semitic languages. In latter-day revelation Shem is referred to as “the great high priest” (D&C 138:41). See also Melchizedek.

    The LDS Bible dictionary says, under the heading Melchizedek, “King of Righteousness. A notable prophet and leader who lived about 2000 B.C. He is called the king of Salem (Jerusalem), king of peace, and “priest of the most High God.” Unfortunately, information concerning him in the Bible is relatively scarce, being limited to Gen. 14:18–20; Heb. 5:6; 7:1–3. Mention of the priesthood of Melchizedek is given in several other instances, primarily in Psalms and in Hebrews. However, latter-day revelation gives us much more about him and his priesthood (see JST Gen. 14:17 [Gen. 14:18 note d]; JST Gen. 14:25–40; JST Heb. 7:3 [Appendix]; Alma 13:14–19; D&C 84:14; 107:1–4). From these sources we realize something of the greatness of this prophet and the grandeur of his ministry. See also Jebus; Jerusalem; Melchizedek Priesthood.

  • Lamanite, A North American Indian

    Lamanite, A North American Indian

    Lamanite, A North American Indian

    “I think it’s important to realize that the title page of the Book of Mormon says, “written to the Lamanites. That’s one of the very first things it says. I think Latter-day Saints today think well, the Book of Mormon is written for us. Well it was, written for the entire world, but of course Mormon, Moroni in their understanding of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, they fully realized that this book, this record, would eventually come forth to their descendants to the descendants of Lehi, and his family. And, this is clear to Joseph Smith. There’s no question in my mind that Joseph Smith knows from the very beginning this record needs to be received and given to and accepted by Lamanite descendants. And in 1830, to Joseph Smith and the Church members, a Lamanite meant to them, a North American Indian. There’s just no question.” Alexander L. Baugh BYU Church History Department; transcribed from the documentary “History of the Saints” Mission to the Lamanites Part 1.

    The White Man

    “As yet I know of no species that was exterminated until the coming of the white man … The white man considered animal life just as he did the natural man life upon this continent as “pests.” There is no word in the Lakota vocabulary with the English meaning of this word … Forests were mown down, the buffalo exterminated, the beaver driven to extinction and his wonderfully constructed dams dynamited … and the very birds of the air silenced … The white man has come to be the symbol of extinction for all things natural in this continent. Between him and the animal there is no rapport and they have learned to flee from his approach, for they cannot live on the same ground.” Chief Luther Standing Bear, Land of the Spotted Eagle, Houghton Mifflin, Boston & New York, 1933.

    I truly believe the Spirit of Christ was given to all men and women as we each chose to live on this earth. Our challenge is, who will live up to that “Great Spirit’s desires which He has for each of us, and who will not? 

    We are all equal in God’s eyes, both male and female, bond and free, black and white, and I believe the Lord’s greatest desire is to see all of His children live together in love and peace. It’s unfortunate how the White Man has treated the Native American and their descendants the Hebrews. As you read below, you will com to realize the true Spirit contained within these special Lamanites of North America and all other nationalities on this beautiful Earth. I share the quote below as a tribute to Mike and Betty LaFontaine who truly know they are people from the East.

    Thankful to the East

    “We are thankful to the East because everyone feels good in the morning when they awake, and sees the bright light coming from the East; and when the Sun goes down in the West we feel good and glad we are well; then we are thankful to the West. And we are thankful to the North, because when the cold winds come we are glad to have lived to see the leaves fall again; and to the South, for when the south wind blows and everything is coming up in the spring, we are glad to live to see the grass growing and everything green again. We thank the Thunders, for they are the Manitou’s that bring the rain, which the Creator has given them power to rule over. And we thank our mother, the Earth, whom we claim as mother because the Earth carries us and everything we need.” Charley Elkhair, quoted in M. R. Harrington, Religion and Ceremonies of the Lenape, Indian Notes and Monographs, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, vol 19 (1921).

    1830

    “The Book of Mormon was published the same year the Indian Removal Act passed. It gave Church members a different perspective on the past history and future destiny of American Indians. The early Saints believed that all American Indians were the descendants of Book of Mormon peoples, and that they shared a covenant heritage connecting them to ancient Israel. They often held the same prejudices toward Indians shared by other European Americans, but Latter-day Saints believed Native Americans were heirs to God’s promises even though they now suffered for once having rejected the gospel. This belief instilled in the early Saints a deeply felt obligation to bring the message of the Book of Mormon to American Indians.

    Within months of the founding of the Church in 1830, Latter-day Saint missionaries journeyed to Indian Territory, on the borders of the United States. Parley P. Pratt reported that William Anderson (Kik-Tha-We-Nund), the leader of a group of Delaware (Lenape) who had relocated to the area near Independence, Missouri, warmly received the missionaries, and an interpreter told Oliver Cowdery that the “chief says he believes every word” of the Book of Mormon. However, a government agent soon barred them from further evangelizing among Indians in the area because they had not secured proper authorization. Latter-day Saint interactions with American Indians remained sparse for the next few years, though Pratt and others still spoke of a day when Indians would embrace the Book of Mormon.” Church History Topics

    Lamanite Tradition

     

    “We can learn much from the Native Americans. At one time they each had the true gospel with the priesthood in their homes. We know through transgression they lost those blessings, but retain many of the oral traditions of the gospel.

    We have heard it said “the first shall be last and the last shall be first”. What can we learn from the Native Americans? I have always known the Native American believe in only one God. They worship the Great Spirit. They are a humble and proud people with a wonderful sense of humor. They only allow their High Priest to speak the sacred things of God.

    “It is interesting to note, in closing, that I know of no Indian language in which one can take the name of the Lord in vain. Indeed, I do not know of an Indian language in which they can even swear. They have to learn English or some white man’s language before they can defile the name of Deity.” LAMANITE TRADITION by Golden R. Buchanan PRESIDENT, SOUTHWEST INDIAN MISSION IMPROVEMENT ERA APRIL 1955 SPECIAL LAMANITE ISSUE

    Turtle Island

    Artistic interpretation of an island growing atop a turtle’s back.

    For some Indigenous peoples, Turtle Island refers to the continent of North America. The name comes from various Indigenous oral histories that tell stories of a turtle that holds the world on its back. For some Indigenous peoples, the turtle is therefore considered an icon of life, and the story of Turtle Island consequently speaks to various spiritual and cultural beliefs.

    Origin and Definition

    Turtle Island is the name many Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking peoples mainly in the northeastern part of North America use to refer to the continent. In various Indigenous origin stories, the turtle is said to support the world, and is an icon of life itself. Turtle Island therefore speaks to various spiritual beliefs about creation and for some, the turtle is a marker of identity, culture, autonomy and a deeply-held respect for the environment.

    Story of Turtle Island

    The story of Turtle Island varies among Indigenous communities, but by most accounts, it acts as a creation story that places emphasis on the turtle as a symbol of life and earth. The following versions are brief reinterpretations of stories shared by Indigenous peoples. In no way do these examples represent all variations of the tale; they merely seek to demonstrate general characteristics and plots of different stories. Source

    North American Indians: the Spirituality of Nature

    Every seed is awakened and so is all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our animal neighbours the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land. Sitting Bull

    The environmental wisdom and spirituality of North American Indians is legendary.

    Animals were respected as equal in rights to humans. Of course they were hunted, but only for food, and the hunter first asked permission of the animal’s spirit. Among the hunter-gatherers the land was owned in common: there was no concept of private property in land, and the idea that it could be bought and sold was repugnant. Many Indians had an appreciation of nature’s beauty as intense as any Romantic poet.

    Religious beliefs varied between tribes, but there was a widespread belief in a Great Spirit who created the earth, and who pervaded everything. This was a panentheist rather than a pantheist belief. But the pantheistic tone was far stronger than among Christians, and more akin to the pantheism of William Wordsworth. It was linked to an animism which saw kindred spirits in all animals and plants.

    The Indians viewed the white man’s attitude to nature as the polar opposite of the Indian. The white man seemed hell-bent on destroying not just the Indians, but the whole natural order, felling forests, clearing land, killing animals for sport.

    Of course, not everything that every Indian tribe did was wonderfully earth-wise and conservation-minded. The Anasazi of Chaco Canyon probably helped to ruin their environment and destroy their own civilization through deforestation. In the potlatch the Kwakiutl regularly burned heaps of canoes, blankets and other possessions simply to prove their superiority to each other; the potlatch is the archetypal example of wanton overconsumption for status. Even the noble plains Indians often killed far more bisons than they needed, in drives of up to 900 animals.

    In other words, the Indians were not an alien race of impossibly wonderful people. They were human just like the rest of us. And in that lies hope.

    Wisdom derives from way of life, and is as fragile as nature. Many Indians shared their animism, their respect for nature and their attitude to the land with other hunter-gatherers. But when ways of life change, beliefs change to support them. The advent of agriculture and then industry brought massive shifts in attitudes to nature (see How we fell from unity.)

    Beliefs can also change ways of life. Our present way of life is laying waste to the environment that supports us. New beliefs can help us to change that way of life, and in arriving at those beliefs, we can learn immensely from the beliefs of the North American Indians. Source North American Indians: the spirituality of nature

    Our Brothers and Sisters: 5 Sacred Animals and What They Mean in Native Cultures

    Marco Crisari/Thinkstock The turtle is but one of many sacred animals throughout Native cultures.

    Indian Country Today Vincent Schilling 2014

    Indigenous cultures carry precious knowledge about the world around us, including human relationship with animals.

    Without a doubt, animals are a huge part of Native culture. They are considered our brothers and sisters, among our winged, four-legged and swimming family members. They are part of our creation stories, they are messengers to the ancestors and the Creator, and they are our teachers on this world.

    In an attempt to give a bit of respect to our sacred animals, we have compiled a bit of cultural information about our brother and sister brethren. Here are six sacred animals and what they mean.

    The Eagle

    Because the eagle is the animal that flies the highest in the animal kingdom, many tribes have believed they are the most sacred, the deliverers of prayers to the Creator. Additionally, the eagle feather as a gift is considered the highest honor to be given.

    The eagle is an animal of leadership, and in most cultures it is considered a dishonor to kill one. As a certain Cherokee legend demonstrates, you simply don’t mess with an eagle. One night, according to The Eagle’s Revenge as recounted on the website FirstPeople.us, a hunter kills an eagle that he finds eating a deer hung on the drying pole. The following day seven warriors are felled mid-dance by seven whoops from a warrior who enters in the middle of the ceremony. The tribe later learns that it was the eagle’s brother, come to avenge the death.

    The Coyote

    Most commonly viewed as the trickster by many tribes, the coyote figure is also called Isily by the Cahuilla, Yelis by the Alsea and Old Man Coyote by the Crow Tribe, which views the animal as both creator and trickster. Regarded by some tribes as a hero who creates, teaches and helps humans, the coyote also demonstrates the dangers of negative behaviors such as greed, recklessness and arrogance in other tribes.

    Overall, the coyote is often referred to as a creature of both folly and intelligence that seeks to fulfill its own needs at the expense of others. The coyote is also known as a master of disguise.

    The Buffalo

    As one of the most important life sources for the Plains tribes, the American buffalo, or bison, is a sacred and strong giver of life. Their horns and hides were used as sacred regalia during ceremony. They are also tied to creation, medicine and bringers of sacred messages by the ancestors such as White Buffalo Calf Woman, the bearer of the peace pipe to the Lakota people.

    In an Apache story, a powerful being by the name of Humpback had always kept the buffalo from the tribes of Earth, thanks to Coyote, who tricked Humpback and his son into believing that he was a dog, waited for them to fall asleep and then barked to scare the buffalo. The buffalo in turn trampled Humpback’s house flat, which allowed the bison to roam the Earth and feed the people.

    The Raven

    Another trickster, the raven is a big part of many tribes including the Tlingit of Alaska, who tell many stories about how the raven created the stars and the moon. The raven is the creator god of Gwich’ in mythology—mischievous and loud, and in many ways a sarcastic troublemaker, he is also known as a thief.

    In one Tlingit story the raven changes himself into a small piece of dirt, and a young girl, the daughter of a rich man, swallows the transformed raven in a drink. The girl has a child, who cries until bundles are opened to create the stars and the moon. Finally the child takes the bundle, which is in fact daylight, and the raven is revealed.

    In the trickster vein, this one hilarious, the Raven places dog feces near the rear end of his brother-in-law in order to trick him. While he is distracted, the Raven takes all of the water in his brother-in-law’s nearby spring.

    The Turtle

    Known as the carrier of Turtle Island by the Great Spirit, the turtle plays a fundamental role in the creation stories of many East Coast tribes. The name Turtle Island is literal: Having placed a large amount of dirt on a great turtle’s back in order to create North America, the Creator designated the turtle as its eponymous caretaker.

    While Plains tribes associate the turtle with long life and fertility, other tribes associate the turtle with healing, wisdom, spirituality and patience. The Hopi know the turtle spirit as Kahaila, while it is Mikcheech to the Micmac and Tolba to the Abenaki.

    Ancient bobcat buried like a human being

    Science Magazine By David Grimm Jul. 2, 2015

    A bobkitten, perhaps resembling the one Native Americans buried 2000 years ago. ROBERT SHANTZ/ALAMY

    About 2000 years ago in what is today western Illinois, a group of Native Americans buried something unusual in a sacred place. In the outer edge of a funeral mound typically reserved for humans, villagers interred a bobcat, just a few months old and wearing a necklace of bear teeth and marine shells. The discovery represents the only known ceremonial burial of an animal in such mounds and the only individual burial of a wild cat in the entire archaeological record, researchers claim in a new study. The villagers may have begun to tame the animal, the authors say, potentially shedding light on how dogs, cats, and other animals were domesticated.

     

    “It’s surprising and marvelous and extremely special,” says Melinda Zeder, a zooarchaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. But Zeder, who was not involved in the study, says it’s unclear whether these people treated the bobcat as a pet or invested the animal with a larger spiritual significance.

    The mound is one of 14 dirt domes of various sizes that sit on a bluff overlooking the Illinois River, about 80 kilometers north of St. Louis. Their builders belonged to the Hopewell culture, traders and hunter-gatherers who lived in scattered villages of just a couple of dozen individuals each and created animal-inspired artwork, like otter-shaped bowls and ceramics engraved with birds. “Villages would come together to bury people in these mounds,” says Kenneth Farnsworth, a Hopewell expert at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey in Champaign. “It was a way to mark the area as belonging to your ancestors.”

    Ancient Native Americans buried these bone pendants and shell beads together with the bobcat. KENNETH FARNSWORTH

    Archaeologists rushed to excavate the mounds in the early 1980s because of an impending highway project. When they dug into the largest one—28 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters high—they unearthed the bodies of 22 people buried in a ring around a central tomb that contained the skeleton of an infant. They also discovered a small animal interred by itself in this ring; marine shells and bear teeth pendants carved from bone lay near its neck, all containing drill holes, suggesting they had been part of a collar or necklace. The Hopewell buried their dogs—though in their villages, not in these mounds—and the researchers assumed the animal was a canine. They placed the remains in a box, labeled it “puppy burial,” and shelved it away in the archives of the Illinois State Museum in Springfield.

    Decades later, Angela Perri realized that the team had gotten it wrong. A Ph.D. student at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom, Perri was interested in ancient dog burials and came across the box in 2011 while doing research at the museum.  “As soon as I saw the skull, I knew it was definitely not a puppy,” says Perri, now a zooarchaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. “It was a cat of some kind.”

    When Perri analyzed the bones, she found that they belonged to a bobcat, likely between 4 and 7 months old. The skeleton was complete, and there were no cut marks or other signs of trauma, suggesting to Perri that the animal had not been sacrificed. When she looked back at the original excavation photos, she saw that the bobcat had been carefully placed in its grave. “It looked respectful; its paws were placed together,” she says. “It was clearly not just thrown into a hole.”

    When Perri told Farnsworth, he was floored. “It shocked me to my toes,” he says. “I’ve never seen anything like it in almost 70 excavated mounds.” Because the mounds were intended for humans, he says, somebody bent the rules to get the cat buried there. “Somebody important must have convinced other members of the society that it must be done. I’d give anything to know why.”

    Perri, who reports the discovery with Farnsworth and another colleague this week in the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, has her suspicions. The pomp and circumstance of the burial, she says, “suggests this animal had a very special place in the life of these people.” And the age of the kitten implies that the villagers brought it in from the wild—perhaps as an orphan—and may have tried to raise it. Bobcats, she notes, are only about twice the size of a housecat and are known to be quite tamable. The necklace seals the deal for her. She thinks it may have been a collar, a sign that the animal was a cherished pet. “This is the closest you can get to finding taming in the archaeological record,” says Perri, who believes the find provides a window into how other animals—whether they be dogs or livestock—were brought into human society and domesticated. “They saw the potential of this animal to go beyond wild.”

    That’s certainly possible, Zeder says. “Taming can be a pathway to domestication.” But she cautions against reading too much into one find. “It’s just a single specimen in a very special context. Talking about domestication might be stretching it.” If the Hopewell really viewed the bobcat as a pet, she says, they would probably have buried it in the same place as their dogs. Instead, she suspects that the cat may have had a symbolic status, perhaps representing a connection to the spiritual world of the wild. “This could be more of a cosmological association.”

    Jean-Denis Vigne, a zooarchaeologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, calls the find “a very unique and important discovery.” He says it reminds him of hunter-gatherer societies in South America that bring young monkeys and other wild animals into their homes, rearing and sometimes breastfeeding them as a way to thank nature for bountiful game and crops. Still, Vigne says he’s not aware of people burying these animals. “There’s a lot that still needs to be explored.”

    Unfortunately, further work on the bobcat may not be possible. The museum where the bones are housed is facing a shutdown due to state budget cuts, and Perri says she can no longer access the samples. Public groups and museum staff are fighting hard to stop the closure, she says.