Pioneer Day, very much like Thanksgiving, celebrates events that didn’t always go so well for Native Americans. This is particularly ironic since the very name “Mormon” stems from the alleged existence of a fourth-century Native American. This man, Mormon, is said to have been “a prophet, military general, and record keeper” who “kept extensive historical and spiritual records of his people, who lived in the Americas.” He is then said to have “compiled and abridged” these records onto the golden plates which Joseph Smith was led to centuries later.
Who were Mormon’s ancestors, and what was their history? According to the Book of Mormon, which is Joseph Smith’s spiritually-guided translation of these golden-plate records, Mormon was a descendent of Lehi and his family. According to Wikipedia, Lehi was “an ancient prophet” of the Israelite “Tribe of Manasseh” who lived with his family “in Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Judah under the reign of King Zedekiah.” Shortly before the circa-600 BCE destruction of Jerusalem,
Lehi and his family allegedly escaped, and eventually made their way across the great waters to the Americas. Once there, two of Lehi’s six sons – Nephi and Laman – were said to have established the Israelite nations of Nephites and Lamanites.
Here’s where the story begins to have political ramifications. Wikipedia also reports that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints seems to have officially accepted that “the Lamanites are among the principal ancestors of the American Indians.” This might not have been a problem (overlooking the lack of DNA evidence), were it not for the aftermath of this assertion. According to the article, Mormons and Native Americans: A Historical Overview, there has been a pervasive Mormon belief that – because the Lamanites ended up killing the “righteous” Nephites” – God then “cursed the Lamanites with dark skin and a
degraded existence.”
Ergo, if most (and some say all) American Indians can trace their history to this alleged “curse,” what does that says about the dignity and spirituality of the Native Americans? It is heartening to note that this spiritual
divide is being slowly bridged by intercultural and interfaith Pioneer Day celebrations such as those in
modern-day Salt Lake City.
Resources
http://lds.org/topic/mormon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_plates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Joseph_(LDS_Church)
http://www.onlinenevada.org/mormons_and_native_americans:_a_historical_overview
http://www.sltrib.com/themix/ci_12868186
http://www.nativeamericancelebration.com/event_info/powwow.html
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700152505/Elder-Holland-Be-like-pioneers-learn-to-work-together.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon
Copyright July 24, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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