Book of Mormon/Lamanites/Referenced in the Doctrine and Covenants

This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

Question

Since the Doctrine and Covenants refers to American Indians in North America as "Lamanites" (e.g., DC 28꞉8-9,14, DC 30꞉6, DC ꞉32,DC 54꞉8) does this cause problems for the Limited Geography Theory (LGT) or issues of Amerindian genetic data?

Response

We must not make the mistake of assuming that D&C revelations in which Joseph Smith speaks in “God’s voice” are to be seen as direct “quotations” from God. They aren’t. Joseph didn’t claim to be hearing a voice, and he didn’t claim to be quoting God or taking dictation. Rather, impressions would come to him, which he would put into words. Joseph clearly did not consider them “direct quotations” from God, since he was quite happy to revise them, edit them later, etc. This would be strange if Joseph saw them as “direct quotes,” not so strange when we understand how he saw the matter.

Many members of the Church assume differently because of the way they’re worded.

The LGT assumes that a small number of Lehites were introduced into a larger "sea" of native peoples, most of whom were of presumably Asiatic origin. Critics mistake the use of the term "Lamanite" as requiring descent from Lehi. But, from very early in the Book of Mormon record, it is clear that the term "Lamanite" does not refer to descent, but to political and religious affiliation:

...I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings.(Jacob 1꞉14)

So, any American who wasn’t a Nephite was, by exclusion, a Lamanite. Lamanites are not confined in any geographic sense at all. The LGT holds that Book of Mormon history and the Lamanites with which it is concerned were confined to a narrow region, but that’s because that’s all the Nephites cared about.

The situation in the 19th century was different than the state of affairs a millenium and a half earlier, when the Book of Mormon was written (i.e., 300-400 AD at the latest). By Joseph Smith’s era, if Lehi left any descendants at all, then every single person in the hemisphere was a descendant of Lehi. That doesn’t mean that they got the majority of their DNA from him, or that one would likely be so spectacularly lucky as to find a genetic marker from him—but, they would be literal descendants in some sense, and probably all have predominantly Asian DNA markers. (For further information about the population genetics, see FAIR Wiki article on Amerindians as Lamanites, especially all modern Amerindians from Lehi.)

By the time the Doctrine and Covenants was written, Lehi's descendants had ample time to migrate and intermarry with the large number of "natives" postulated by the LGT. Such descendants are "Lamanites" in at least three senses:

1. all shared descent from Lehi, to some degree
2. none embraced Nephite kingship or their doctrine of Christ, making them "Lamanites" politically
3. all were eligible for the covenant blessings promised to Lehi's descendants, if they would repent.

Further reading

FAIR web site

D&C FairMormon articles on-line

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