A great friend of FIRM Foundation, Robert Goodwin shared this information with us. He has a lot of experience in U.S. History and Native American History
Native American Aboriginal TRIBES, Lamanites and Nephites.
Written by Robert A. Goodwin 11-29-2020
“Since Lamanites and Nephites were descendants of Lehi whose family came from the land of Palestine (of Israelite, Jewish or Hebrew origin), it is of interest to determine if 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th Century North American ‘Indian tribes’ have any foundational similarities that would connect them with possible Jewish or Hebrew culture in the ‘land of the Jews’.
To begin let me direct you to two sources in the Book of Mormon to set the stage.
Please read 1 Nephi 13, the whole chapter and then particularly verse 30- words to Nephi the son of Lehi “…Gentiles…upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands, which is the land that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father [LEHI] that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance…” Now turn to 3 Nephi 7: 2-4, &14 (around 30AD) their division into tribes (the word tribes is used in each verse and discloses a new precedent structure of community organization that began and continued the next year). No further reversing of this structure is recorded. See verse 14- “And it came to pass in the thirty and first year that they were divided into tribes every man according to his family, kindred, and friends” then notice what is recorded next “…they had come to an agreement that they would not go to war one with another” [establishing another possible precedent].
I will leave those statements for the reader to digest for now and turn to historical writers that have stated their belief that North American aboriginal tribes were descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel or ‘from the land of the Jews’. Prior to the establishment of the Smithsonian Institute in 1846, there are numerous references by writers who lived with or dealt with these North American ‘Indians’ and other aborigines of the New World that made positive assertions of their possible HEBREW origin-i.e. Garcia in his Origen de las Medianos (1607), he found many Hebrew terms in their… languages, Bartolome de Las Casas ‘Apostle to the Indians’ of Hispaniola” (1542) wrote to the King of Spain asserting the same regarding those tribes. Puritan minister Thomas Thorowgood in his Jews in America (1650 and 1660) argued that they were descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. Jon Eliot, who published the first Bible in America, written in Algonquin language, after ministering among them for several years, claimed the same in his writings. Antonio Montesinos (1644) and the learned Jew Manasseh ben Israel visited among the Indians in America and reached the same conclusion, that they ‘descended from the Jews’ culture. Cotton Mather, Roger Williams, and William Penn shared the same view.
I had the privilege of digitizing William Penn’s 1682 autobiography transcribed in W L Weems 1829 book The Life of William Penn, Settler of Pennsylvania- containing his celebrated treaty with the Indians-his purchase of their country-valuable anecdotes of Admiral Penn…. in which he outlines 9 distinct cultural similarities with Jewish culture. Charles Beatty in his Journal of Two Months Tour (1678) and S. Seawell (1697) advance proofs of the same argument. Others who corroborated this assertion after James Adair in 1775 (I will close my article by first-hand detail from his book The History of the American Indians) were Jonathan Edwards, Elias Boudinot (1816), E. Howitt (1820), Ethan Smith (1825), Israel Worsley (1828), Josiah Priest (1834), Mrs. Simons (1836), Modecai M. Noah (1837), Calvin Colton (1838), G. Jones (1843). Lord Viscount Kingsborough’s 9 volumes were published in London (1830-1848) which include many ancient Spanish, French, and Mexican manuscripts that provide the most elaborate argument that the ancient Indians of America were of Jewish origin –All of the above list of writers was extracted from James Adair, The History of the American Indians, published in London 1775, reprint copy published in 1930 with introduction, by the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, introduction-pages xxix-xxx.
James Adair lived and traded with the Cherokee and other 5 southern tribes from 1735 to 1775 and wrote his book The History of the American Indians about his dealings with those southern tribes. The above 1930 reprint was being scanned at the Orem Digital Processing Center where I serve as a part-time service missionary digitizing family history related publications for the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Because of my expressed interest in the book, I was given permission to take the book home and read it from cover to cover, then was honored to be assigned to audit and follow the established final digital processing of the book for downloading into the book archive at familysearch.org/library/books for public view. The whole purpose of his book was to provide “Observation and Arguments, in Proof of The American Indians Being Descended From the Jews”- from Content page of The History of The American Indians, by James Adair 1775, 546 pages. The content page of 23 chapters highlights 23 distinct evidences of common cultural traditions.
I will focus on Argument (Chapter) II, Their Worship of Jehovah, and Chapter XVI, Their Purification, and Ceremonies Preparatory for War.
He tells of being invited to go with them on a warring party against a neighboring tribe and his observation of a unique ‘war box’ or ‘Indian Ark‘ that they always took with them at the front of their group. All warrior young men ‘live separate from all others and purify themselves for the space of three days and nights. …They observe a strict fast till sunset, ..then drink ‘this purifying physic, …warm water highly imbittered with button-rattle-snake-root, used only for religious purposes.’ ‘The leader and his attendant [carrier] are purified longer than the rest. Their ark ‘contains several consecrated vessels’ and a short rod or stick’…they ‘never place it on the ground nor on the bare earth while they are carrying it against the enemy.’
Much more is said describing this ark in terms that are similar to the Hebrew ark of Berith, a wooden chest “the purifier”, or ark of the covenant. The Indian priests that blessed the war party would wash or bathe in a special natural springs lake for three days and then were anointed with bear-oil in a special ceremony. At the end of the successful expedition that Adair attended, the tribe held a special celebratory ritual ceremony with dancing and chanting. I quote from page 172- “When they return home victorious over the enemy, they sing the triumphal song to Yo-He-Wah, ascribing the victory to him, according to a religious custom of the Israelites, who were commanded always to attribute their success in war to Jehovah, and not to their swords and arrows.”
In the paleo-Hebrew language, there is no J, or Jay sound. In Hebrew, Jehovah is pronounced Yah-Weh or Yod-HeVah or Wah, Yod is the 10th letter of Paleo-Hebrew, Heh is the 5th letter, and Vah or Wah is the 6th letter., thus Yo-He-Wah is the transliteration of the pure Hebrew way of saying Jehovah. There were 17 OCR hits for references to that name Yo-He-Wah in James Adair’s book describing the language of these tribes in the mid 1700’s. Also there were 23 hits for references to the divine name Elohim being spoken by them, and 7 hits for references to the usage of Aleluiah or Haleluiah used in their language. Adair on one occasion wrote the combination Aleluiah-YoheWah-Elohim as a phrase used by the Chickasaw Indians. The name Yod-He-Vah, according to an Ojibwa (northern American tribe) medicine man is the essence of what is called the Mystic Symbol, written backwards as a reformed Hebrew script of Yod-He-Vah that is the Ojibwa sacred symbol, meaning to them “The Son of God”. Native American Aboriginal TRIBES and Lamanites and Nephites. Written by Robert A. Goodwin
You can find all of Adair’s 23 cultural similarities in his 546 page book The History of the American Indians at https://familysearch.org/library/books
The History of the American Indians Specific Volume Here
Similarities between Native Americans, Jews, and Lamanites
See my blog titled YHWH, YOD-HEY-VAH, JEHOVAH, JESUS CHRIST, AND LORD Here:
LORD = JEHOVAH
By [email protected] /
“We are frequently told that Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament (see Bible Dictionary, “Jehovah,” 710–11). But when we open our Bibles, we find little evidence that this is so. What is missing in the translations is clear in the original Hebrew text, where Jehovah, the Savior’s Old Testament name, appears over 5,000 times!
Why then is Jehovah missing from our Bible translations? The answer can be found in the way His name has been treated by Jews since the days of Malachi and Zechariah. Jehovah is the name of God, and devout Jews, out of reverence for Him, never say His name. Instead they substitute Adonai, a Hebrew title meaning “Lord.” So whenever they speak of Him or read aloud His name from scripture, they substitute Adonai (Lord).
LORD (in small capital letters)
King James translators of the Hebrew Bible followed Jewish practice. Instead of printing Jehovah, the name of God, they substituted the English title LORD, printed in small capitals, every time the name Jehovah appeared in the Hebrew text.
Lord (in lowercase letters)
Lord is also printed in lowercase letters (as Lord and lord) in the King James Version of the Bible. Lord is a title that refers to rulers of various kinds—heavenly and earthly—such as God, king, husband, governor, prince, prophet, father, captain, and angel. The heavenly ruler is designated by Lord, the earthly ruler by lord. Neither of these titles, printed in lowercase letters, is a substitution for the name Jehovah. Simply put, LORD equals Jehovah, while Lord or lord refers to an earthly or heavenly ruler.
Knowing the distinction between LORD and Lord helps us understand the story of Hannah and Eli in 1 Samuel 1:1–28. In verse 11, Hannah makes a vow with the LORD for a child. Then when Eli, the high priest, accuses her of being drunk (v. 14), Hannah says, “No, my lord.” Her use of lord shows her reverence for the high priest. Her calling upon the LORD shows her pleading with Jehovah. When we understand the distinctions between LORD, Lord, and lord, we can see what publishers have done. We can find Jesus Christ in the Old Testament by substituting Jehovah for LORD whenever it appears. Then something wonderful happens. Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ, appears from beginning to end of this great book as the God of the Old Testament.
The Savior’s ministry on earth did not begin with His birth. He is “the eternal I AM,” the Lord God Omnipotent who appeared to the patriarchs and prophets of old, who delivered Israel from Egypt, who gave the law on Sinai, and who guided and inspired the righteous prophets, priests, seers, judges, and kings of the Old Testament.”
Keith H. Meservy is an emeritus professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University and a member of the Pleasant View Third Ward, Provo Utah Sharon East Stake.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “To the Lord’s covenant people, names—particularly proper names—have always been very important. Adam and Eve themselves bore names that suggested their roles here in mortality (see Moses 1:34; 4:26) and, when important covenants were made, men like Abram and Jacob took on new names that signaled a new life as well as a new identity. (See Gen. 17:5; 32:28). Because of this reverence for titles and the meanings they conveyed, the name Jehovah, sometimes transliterated as Yahweh, was virtually unspoken among that people. This was the unutterable name of Deity, that power by which oaths were sealed, battles won, miracles witnessed. Traditionally, he was identified only through a tetragrammaton, four Hebrew letters variously represented in our alphabet as IHVH, JHVH, JHWH, YHVH, YHWH…
Repentance and faith, service and compassion—now is always the right time for these. The past is to be learned from, not lived in, and the future is to be planned for, not paralyzed by. God has declared himself in the present tense. I am the Great I AM.
The prescribed method for coming to knowledge (and subsequent freedom) is to “give diligent heed to the words of eternal life” (D&C 84:43), yet many of us spend precious little time with those words.” Whom Say Ye That I Am? Jeffrey R. Holland Ensign Sept. 1974.
Written in Paleo-Hebrew and used from 1000 BC – 400 AD, represents the name “Jehovah”, or the tetragrammaton. All throughout the Old Testament, the word ‘LORD’ (all small caps), replaced the sacred name “Yahweh” as described above. “I Am” in Hebrew is “Yahweh” and “Adonai” is the Hebrew word for LORD.
