Joseph Smith Believed The Laminites Were The Ancestors Of The Native American Indians Essay

They found grave robbing, or “resurrecting” a body, disgusting. Resurrecting a Christian body was sacrilege, meaning it violated something sacred. (Lawrence). Family members even watched over graves at night and implemented other means of protecting their loved ones’ bodies. Some would install grave alarms or use iron coffins to discourage resurrectionists (“Body Snatching Around the World”).

There are hundreds of Native American tribes and millions of people that are within North America that identify themselves as Native Americans. Each tribe has their own unique customs, language, and myths. However, within the confines of this paper I will take a broad view with regards to Native American customs and traditions from a small sample of tribes that were observed prior to the vast expansion of colonizing the west.

To many Europeans in the early 17th century the Americas seemed as a new land of opportunity. John Smith and William Bradford were two of the first men who left England seeking adventure and freedom in the New World. Both groups had difficulties while trying to form their colonies and Smith and Bradford were both elected to lead. While they were both great leaders they had very different lives before their journey from England. While starting their new colonies they also took different approaches to making the land habitable. One of the most notable differences between John Smith and William Bradford was their writing style. John Smith and William Bradford were very different people in

By March, 1830, Smith translated and compiled them into the first edition of the Book of Mormon. According to Smith, “…when he found and translated the plates, they told of a lost tribe of Israel that migrated to the Americas many hundreds of years ago” (Online Nevada Encyclopedia). This “lost tribe” was led by Lehi, the first American forefather, and several of his sons – Nephi, Laman, and Lemuel. Initially, civilization remained in balance between “fair” and “righteous” Nephites and their more aggressive Lamanite brethren (Hickman 429). Eventually, the warlike Lamanites united against their neighbors and all but decimated the Nephite population. Due to this contemptuous, God cursed Laman and Lemuel with a “…skin of blackness”, in an effort to separate their progeny from the “record-keeping” Nephites (2 Nephi 5:21; Alma 3:8) (429). Most contemporary LDS view “Nephites” as authors of the Book of Mormon (Angel Moroni was a Nephite), and “Lamanites” as ancestors of American Natives

Andrew Jackson, The United States seventh president, was possibly one of the worst human beings to be president and treated the Native Indians horribly. He, was a bully and used his position to get acts and petitions like the Indian Removal Act passed, to help push Native Indians around so he could get his own way. The Indian Removal Act in and of itself seemingly doesn’t contain that much power, however it was all the power Jackson needed. The circumstances of Jackson’s character and the debates surrounding the Act also lend and interesting lens to examine what Jackson intentions were. When looking at Jackson and how he managed to relocate the Native it becomes substantially more integral to examine all the documents with a wide scope to see how he even managed the relocation of Natives.

There were a few people that had a great influence on the early settlements in the New World. Two such men were William Bradford and John Smith. Their similarities and differences are evident in the way these men impacted the two colonies. John Smith and William Bradford were both writers, Christians, and early leaders; however, William Bradford preformed his duties with much stronger morals, spirituality, and humility.

Due to the wide range of habitats in North America, different native religions evolved to match the needs and lifestyles of the individual tribe. Religious traditions of aboriginal peoples around the world tend to be heavily influenced by their methods of acquiring food, whether by hunting wild animals or by agriculture. Native American spirituality is no exception. Traditional Lakota spirituality is a form of religious belief that each thing, plant and animal has a spirit. The Native American spirituality has an inseparable connection between the spirituality and the culture. One cannot exist without the other.

Men and women from other religions, did many things to harm as many of the mormons they could. There were mass murders, rages, attacks on homes, and massacres that were set against the mormons. One common thing done to them,was tarring and feathering them. This is where boiling tar was poured over their head, to run down their body then they were covered in feathers. Thousands were killed, or at least hurt, year after year. Many of the righteous and steadfast followers were put in jail for no reason, then starved to death, or shot. Others were killed on the spot. The Prophet, Joseph Smith, was taken from his home, and put in jail with four other mormon leaders, then him and two others were shot by a mob just days later.

The Lakota Indians, are sometimes known as the Sioux, but they call themselves the Lakota, which is translated as ‘friend’ or ‘ally’ in their native tongue. Their description of themselves make sense when looking at their seven virtues that they live by, “These are Wóčhekiye (Prayer), Wóohola (Respect), Wówauŋšila (Compassion), Wówičakȟe (Honesty), Wówačhaŋtognaka (Generosity), Wówaȟwala (Humility) and Wóksape (Wisdom) (“Lakota Today”). A culture’s idea of the most importance qualities a good person should have gives a good idea of what kind of people they are. The Lakota’s virtues all revolve around a general concept of respect for everything, compassion, humility, and honesty. These things can either refer to their fellow man, or

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe currently fights to save its only water source from natural gas and oil contamination. This troubling current event has a somewhat forgotten historical analogue where very similar themes presented themselves. The Kinzua Dam Controversy, which took place in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, resulted in the displacement of over 600 Seneca Indian families and the acquisition of a large tract of traditional Seneca Land for dam building. Additionally, the acquisition of Seneca land represented a breach of “The Treaty with the Six Nations of 1794,” which explicated prevented such action by the US Government. The dam and its construction, which primarily benefitted Pittsburg, inspired a heated discourse concerning the ethics of native relocation.

When Europeans first set foot upon the shores of what is now the United States they brought with them a social structure which was fundamentally based around their concept and understanding of Western European Christianity. That the indigenous peoples might already have a thriving civilization, including religious beliefs and practices, that closely paralleled the beliefs and practices of European civilization, was a concept not considered by these early explorers and settlers. This European lack of cultural understanding created tensions, between Native Americans and Europeans, and later between Native Americans and Euro-Americans, that eventually erupted into open warfare and resulted in great bloodshed between cultures. For the Lakota

In 1607, a hundred members in a group known as, the Virginia Company founded the first English settlement in South America. When Christopher Columbus sailed around and founded America, King James 1 wanted to form a colony in North America. The colony was known as, Jamestown. The colony struggled from illness and hunger its first years, this was because the colony failed to grow crops. They then turned to John Smith who help the colony survive. The colony need more supplies and food so, they established trade with the Powhatan tribe this was primary because, of John Smith. The relationship between them two wasn’t perfect but, it was good. They had their dispatches but they still, they continued to trade goods and never had any serious concerns with one another.

In conclusion the “plurality of wives” revelation was an issue of significant contention not only between Mormons and Non-Mormons, but also among members of the Mormon faith. Mormon women stated expressed concerns and many community members questioned whether religious leaders abused polygamy, which stratified the Mormon community and brought greater opposition against Joseph Smith. Ultimately, Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob as he was held in jail at Nauvoo for adultery among other

Joseph Smith and his followers have sought to reclaim humanity's divine birthright and to reacquaint and re-link the human family." (252) So, the Mormons concurs with Matthew 24:24, "For false Christ and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect." The Mormons understand that there are false gods the reason 'true Fatherhood' was specified. God warns his people about false gods giving false information to deter the people of God. God loves family, and Satan knows and tries hard to divide the family. Because Satan knows a house can not stand if it is divided. Whether the family is biological or of the body of Christ. The Bible says in Mark 3:25, "And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." No religion or family can stand together in unity if the religion or home can not come together in