Mormon view of the House of Joseph - Theories about the modern descendants of Lamanites - Encyclopedia II

Many Mormons consider Native Americans to be descendants of the Lamanites. Officially, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church"; see also Mormon) appears to accept this position. The introduction to the Latter-day Saint (LDS) edition of The Book of Mormon states, "[T]he Lamanites are the principal ancestors of the American Indians." See The Book of Mormon (2000), "Introduction."

However, this position is controversial. Based on genetic and archeological data, mainstream scientists have concluded that Native Americans are descended from the prehistoric inhabitants of East Asia. For this and other reasons, a few Mormon scholars view Lamanites as (1) one small tribe among many in the ancient Americas, the remainder of whom were not discussed in The Book of Mormon, (2) a tribe that intermarried with indigenous Native American cultures, or (3) fictional characters. See generally Thomas W. Murphy (2001). "Lamanite Genesis, Genealogy, and Genetics," Mormon Scripture Studies.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Theories about the modern descendants of Lamanites", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page