Why is finding “Lamanite” DNA in the America’s Important?
Since the Book of Mormon record is a true literal historical record, then one would think we should be able to find some evidence in the genetic record to that effect, as the Book itself testifies that…
The whole face of the land had become covered with buildings, and the people were as numerous almost, as it were the sand of the sea.” (Book of Mormon | Mormon 1:7)
This clearly indicates that this is not some small obscure village tucked neatly away in a remote location unknown to scientists, but rather that they literally covered the face of the land.
This being the case, even with admixture from their contemporary Asian civilizations of the time, who also inhabited the America’s, it seems logical that there would be some evidence for this great and mighty people.
You will see below there is abundant evidence that North America was home to millions of people of the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian cultures.
How Many Mounds are there in the United States?
In the book titled The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks, this amazing answer is given. “The most common question that is asked about mounds is, “How many exist?” In the 1800’s the Smithsonian sponsored many expeditions to identify mound sites across America. A map (shown below) was produced by Cyrus Thomas in 1894 in a Bureau of Ethnology book. They found approximately 100,000 mound sites, many with complexes containing 2 to 100 mounds. The figure of 100,000 mounds once existing—based on Cyrus Thomas map revealing 100,000 sites—is often cited by others, but that estimate is far, far too low. After visiting several thousand mounds and reviewing the literature, I am fairly certain that over 1,000,000 mounds once existed and that perhaps 100,000 still exist. Oddly, some new mound sites are discovered each year by archaeological surveys in remote areas. But in truth, a large majority of America’s mounds have been completely destroyed by farming, construction, looting, and deliberate total excavations” – Gregory L. Little, Ed.D., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of
Native American Mounds & Earthworks, Eagle Wing Books, Inc., Memphis, TN [2009].
If millions of mounds existed, wouldn’t it make sense that it would take millions of people to build them? Some of these great mounds were larger is size than any pyramids in Egypt. For example, “the Newark Earthworks in Newark and Heath, Ohio, consist of three sections of preserved earthworks: the Great Circle Earthworks, the Octagon Earthworks, and the Wright Earthworks. This complex, built by the Hopewell culture between 100 CE and 500 CE, contains the largest earthen enclosures in the world, and was about 3,000 acres in total extent. Less than 10 percent of the total site has been preserved since European-American settlement; this area contains a total of 206 acres (83 ha). It is operated as a state park by the Ohio History Connection. A designated National Historic Landmark, in 2006 the Newark Earthworks was also designated as the “official prehistoric monument of the State of Ohio.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark_Earthworks
You can also read the Report on the mound explorations of the Bureau of ethnology by Thomas, Cyrus, 1825-1910
What is the Controversy Surrounding DNA and the Book of Mormon?
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 (Negroid) 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 defence 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 2019. 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.
Could Genetics help us Discover the Geography of the Book of Mormon?
What if we found ‘European’ style DNA in the America’s, just not where we thought it would be? Could it lead to a new geographical paradigm that also fits the prophecies found in the Book of Mormon itself as well as validates the prophetic statements of Joseph Smith on the matter at the same time?
The answer is an emphatic, Yes! Genetics could help us discover the true geography of the Book of Mormon, if we follow the evidence, rather than theoretical assumptions. These articles above do just that, follow the scientific evidence that leads to some conclusions about the geography of the Book of Mormon that finally makes sense and is consistent with the Book of Mormon itself and the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The article, “Rediscovering the Book of Mormon Remnant through DNA is taken from peer reviewed scientific journals consistent with scientific research. Other forms of validation are brought to bear on the subject based on a firm belief in the truthfulness and validity of the gospel, the scriptures, revealed truths through living prophets, and Biblical history. Scientific methodology was used throughout the project in creating a ‘Hierarchy of Evidence’ for determination of which evidence ‘trumps’ other evidence based on a scale. Sound scientific reasoning and an understanding of the scriptural basis for beginning a learning process are addressed. This information, while potentially very interesting to non-LDS people is specifically geared to address the LDS communities unique understanding of the need for truth as defined by Joseph Smith through modern day revelation. This places this information firmly in the pro-LDS camp, as an underlying assumption going into this research is that the Church and its gospel are true. All scientists bring their presuppositions with them into their study, and this is no different. For disclosure sake, it is important to make this very clear.
See Rod’s youtube video here: DNA vs Book of Mormon (INCREDIBLE New Evidence that proves The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, is true, not false). DNA evidence of The Book of Mormon in North America, linking Native Americans to the Jewish population in the Middle East.
