Is this true about the Mormon religion?

Question

I took a Native American History class in my freshman year of college. The professor was a very smart man. Anyway, he used to be an anthropologist and has done lots of research.

When we were learning about Indians in the modern day south eastern America, he told us about how they would build tremendous mounds of earth for ceremonial purposes.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. A group of settlers from Europe voyaged to these areas and saw these huge mounds of earth. The natives at the time were thought of as savages, incapable of constructing such impressive mounds of earth. So they then decided that it was one of the lost tribes of Israel who had voyaged to the area and built the mounds themselves. The group proclaimed themselves relatives of this ancient lost tribe, and hence the Mormon religion was born.

I'm not trying to offend anyone and I'm sure this is pretty sobering for Mormons, but can anyone comment on this?

I understand that Fifa, it's just a bit sad that the Mormon religion is such a large movement in America with this piece of information so available that shoots it down from its very roots.

Yes rhsaunders, it's because those very mounds were built by the natives of the area, probably hundreds if not thousands of years earlier than what Joseph Smith and followers believed.

Answer 1

Basically the idea is correct but it is a bit more than that. What happened was a guy called Ethan Smith ? - think this is his name(no relation to Joseph I dont think) wrote a book called a v"View of the Hebrews" Which suggested that the Mounds were made by the some of the early tribes of israel, for basically the reasons you gave in your questions - that the native americans were to primitive for this. This idea was put forward in this book which was published in 1823, before the Book of Mormon was published. What you will find is there are some striking parralells to be found between this book and the book of mormon. The stories are almost to similar to be taken as coincidence. Anyhow a lot of people say that Joseph Smith was very imaginative when he made up the book of mormon, I don't really agree with this, I just think he stole a lot of ideas from different sources including the "View of the Hebrews" book. Unfortunately for Dear Jo Smith the theories in the book about the hebrews were soon disproven by science and therefore it blows a lot of the credibility of the Book of Moromn way out of the water.

Answer 2

Technology to build the mounds is not necessarily required if you have time on your side.

The evidence about the "lost tribes" is something that I have never heard about. If you see what has gone before in the "pre-mormon history", you would see that there is some interest in such things but no scientific evidence.
James MacPherson wrote a book called the "Ossian Chronicles". The parallels between Joseph Smith and him are striking - except that James lived about 100 years before Joseph and in Scotland. At age 16, he found some plates in a hill and translated them.

Answer 3

The early members of the Mormon (LDS) Church did not claim to be relatives of the ancient lost tribes, nor did they claim that all mounds were made by ancient lost tribes, nor were they from where these mounds were.

However, the Book of Mormon does say that some of the lost tribes from the Holy Land left and came to the Americas. Some of these people died out completely and others integrated with the people already living in the Americas. We do not know where exactly in the Americas these people lived.

If you'd like to learn more, you can get a free Book of Mormon at www.mormon.org.

Answer 4

Joseph Smith lacked a formal education, but was not stupid or illiterate. He has aware of the indian burial grounds in the frontier of western New York and thruout the Mississippi Valley. There were also local urban legends of gold or silver buried in some Vermonters farm. Divining and crystal-looking for treasure was as common in New England as New Age Californians are today.
If was also common 'knowledge' that the indians had to come from somewhere after the Noachian flood, and it was supposed that they were the one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The story of how they might have migrated was postulated long before Smith 'dictated' anything to Emma or Oliver. Smith's mother Lucy noted in her diary how her son told stories of the former civilizations, wars, religion etc.
However charming or spiritual, the Book of Mormon cannot be taken as a historical guide to any pre-columbian cultures in America.

He did manage to put it together in a nearly incoherent form, but it remains a sacred fantasy, and mormons could care less about the DNA, ruins, or complete engineering implausibility of Smith's book.

Answer 5

The largest and most numerous of the mounds was in central and southern Illinois. Joseph Smith created the Mormon religion in western New York where there are no mounds. He also never claimed to be descended from one of the 'lost tribes' however he did say that Native Americans where descended from them. I hate Mormons as much as the next guy, so I have studied them.

Answer 6

What I have read is, there were writings which were much like books written in the Old Testament. They were never included in the bible. The Mormon Religion was started by a young man who questioned established religion and was not satisfied. The writings were about the Ministry of Jesus among the Nephites soon after the Resurrection. The writings were written on Gold tablets by a prophetic historian named
Mormon who passed then down to his son Moroni who added a few words of his own. The tablets came to America and were buried in a hill side called Cumorah by Moroni. Later in 1823, a vision of the deceased Moroni came to a young man named Joseph Smith and was instructed where to find the tablets. They were then translated by Smith who started the Mormon religion based on the writings.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 7

From my knowledge, this is something that through DNA has been disproved. Mormons still believe that it is true though. I'm not sure of your statement that this is where the religion was born, I thought that it was through Joseph Smith who read the golden plates which contained the information you wrote of. The lost tribes of Israel whose remains were found in south America, scientifically, show no relation to the lost tribes. Mormons discount this because of Smith's translations and will hear no more, they will also excommunicate those who choose to stand by the claims of those scientists.

I do not find your question offensive, but many Mormons would ... sad, isn't it.

Answer 8

It sounds like a Mormon myth. I know about the mounds, but never heard them linked to Mormons at all, and I used to be a Mormon. Since it's the Mormons who believe that the Indians were visited by Jesus and are the lost tribe...they probably started that one. Ever consider that your professor was a Mormon?

Answer 9

Yes, at its core, Mormonism is based on this ethnocentric prejudice, that native Americans could not possibly have made these buildings.

At least the Scientology cult is just based on science fiction novels without any assumptions about what different human ethnic groups are capable or not capable of achieving.

Answer 10

So the story goes that the book of mormon explaines were the indians come from. They were jews that came over in a boat-like-ark. Fromt he bible, tho the book of mormon story is not mentioned in the bible. The jews were bad and like Cain (i may be remebering my story wrong, even tho I read the Bof M three times) they got a Mark of dark skin. Also, the christians claimt hat Jesus went to the bossom fo Abraham for three days to those who wanted to be saved, before he rose from the dead (ressurrection) but the Mormons claim that Jesus went to north America to talk tot he laminites/indians, which is were they gett he term that the BofM is a second witness to the Bible. Thats how the story goes with their book and the indians, plus indians convert all the time to mormanism because in their old religion (not all inidans religons, some fo the religons vary) it speaks of a great WHITE spirit and as you will remember, it says in the BofM that jesus came to visit the laminites/indians in North America during the three days before he rose from the dead.