Searching For Common Roots This is a personal view on a connection between Polynesia

CHAPTER 3:  THE BOOK OF MORMON

Joseph Smith (Hyrum Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, p.155): "I did translate the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, and it is before the world; and all the powers of earth and hell can never rob me of the honor of it."

CHAPTER 3: THE BOOK OF MORMON

Joseph Smith (Hyrum Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, p.155): "I did translate the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, and it is before the world; and all the powers of earth and hell can never rob me of the honor of it."
1. Why the Book of Mormon?
While the existence of physical evidence (1) may convince skeptics of a Polynesia-America connection, they would staunchly question any relationship between the evidence and the Book of Mormon.
As I ponder the issue of Polynesian migration, I'm becoming more aware of a possible connection between the Book of Mormon records and native traditions from the Americas and Polynesia. My examination of these sources has led me to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon is a history of a people that introduced ancient American traditions into the middle Pacific. This may be a matter of faith on my part, but the information that I want to share with you suggestively validate the Book of Mormon. I'm very aware that people outside the LDS Church dismiss the Book of Mormon as a fraudulent history, but the information I'm looking over provides a perspective that deepens my appreciation for this book.
I believe that a group associated with people of the Book of Mormon ventured out into the Pacific and became the progenitors of the Polynesians. I also believe that this group brought into the middle Pacific a culture tainted with Egyptian traditions. This can be seen when we compare like-words and myths that possibly reveal connections between the Pacific, America, and Egypt.
2. Are stories in the Book of Mormon real history?
Before I answer that question, let me talk about the history of Samoa where I was born. In that part of the world the colonizing Europeans contributed a lot to the recorded history of Polynesia in modern time. Their version of history seems more linear than the complicated view of human migrations that I support. I think that in the attempt to fit historical events to well-formed timelines, there might be a loss of specificity about the intricate developments that are characteristic of complex human relationships. I think it’s that attempt to standardization that modern Oceanian history is based on. The truth is that Oceania is a very complex area of human inter-relationships that can only be analyze in its granual level by examining local myths and stories. At that level, we’ll notice that Oceania is not a monolith but a montage. The history of Oceania consists of obscurities that are often dismissed by modern historians.
Concerning another part of the world, I saw a TV documentary that showed the presence of European traders in China long before the arrival of Marco Polo. The TV program showed mummies in China that looked very European. (3) There are also signs of Chinese presence in America. (4) The Chinese were active merchants and traveled extensively to various places around the globe. They invented the compass and built large sturdy boats that allowed them to venture out into far distance places, possibly including America. China had a noticeable presence in Southeast Asia through trade and military conquest. India too during the Book of Mormon period was very active in Southeast Asia. China and India had immense influence in Southeast Asia.
As far as the history of the Americas, I believe that the Book of Mormon is an actual account of a people amongst the profusion of groups (5) who eked out a living in those early years.
"...we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord had made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea. But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren." (2 Nephi 10: 20-21)
The existence of a group within a diverse continent who claimed to have come from the Middle East, and got absorbed into the mix is possible. Likewise, the introduction of a small group into the middle Pacific that was already home to others is possible with similar results. I have no evidence that proves Polynesians are related to the story of Hagoth and his crew in the Book of Mormon, but I strongly feel that the Polynesians are a product of the continual interactions between groups that made the Pacific their home - where ever their source. This short page focuses on a small slice of this story, highlighting some hints that connect a people in America to Polynesians.
3. There were other groups in America.
"...we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath convenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the land of the Lord." (2 Nephi 1: 5)
"Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land;" (2 Nehpi 10: 19)
Although the peopling of America by an Asian group during the Ice age remains the acceptable theory, there are several specialists who insist that various people moved into America using different means. The Book of Mormon similarly recorded the migration of different groups into this area. It has a record of the Lehi family's journey, and it also tells of other groups making similar journeys hundreds or even thousands of years before. One such group was the Jaredites. The story of their migration occupies the chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon. This group consisted of several families. The story does not explain what race those people were, but, I presume that it might reflect the races that existed during the Tower of Babel, the place the records say they originated from. Dr. C.A. Diops (6) quoted Champollion, as saying that there were four races known to the Egyptians - the Egyptians themselves, Blacks, Whites, and Asians. The Jaredite migration might have consisted of persons from those four races.
"Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people..." (Ether 1: 33)
4. Why is so much detail missing?
One of the controversies with the Book of Mormon is its reference to things that don’t exist in the Americas. I can’t comment about this too much, but others (7) have written extensively about it. Further down in this section I’ll go over a couple of words in the Book of Mormon that appear problematic, but are explainable in the context of traditions of pre-Columbian Americas and Polynesia. It’s really amazing to me to find, in the Samoan tradition, hints to why some things were translated from the Nephite records to English by Joseph Smith. I’ll go into more detail later.
For now, let me speak on something that I’m familiar with – the Samoan language. When new things were introduced to the Samoans, they were named using the following three methods – (*) Samoanized, (**) explanation, or (***) exact. I’ll list just a few words to illustrate.
English \Samoan \Comment
Atomic \Atomika \*

Car \Ta’avale \rolling**

Boat \Va’a \***

Fly \Lele \***

Dive \Tofu \***

Airplane \Va’alele \flying boat**

Submarine \Va’atofu \diving boat**

Paper \Pepa \*

Knife \Pelu \***

Knife \Nefi \*

Bicycle \Uila \probably Samoanizing of the word wheel**

Motorcycle \Uilaafi \fire bicycle**

Flour \Falaoa \*

Flower \Fua \***

Water \Vai \***

Pen \Peni \*

Paint \Vali \***

Crayon \Penivali \painting pen**

Electricity \Eletise \*

Lamp \Moli \-?-

Lightning \Uila \***

Flashlight \Moli’uila \lightning lamp**

The list of new English words continually grows because of growth in technology and pop-culture. As those products, music, and western movies are introduced to Samoa, new words and new names are consequentially added to the Samoan language using the same process I explain above. The challenge for anyone making new Samoan words is keeping the Samoan language intact and clearly expressing those new things.
In the case of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, I think that Joseph Smith dealt with a similar challenge as he translated the Nephite records with names of things that he neither knew about nor experienced. It took a very short time (8) for Joseph to complete his translation. At that speed, I would expect potential mistakes. Amazingly, very few changes were made to the original printed copy of the Book of Mormon. I’m sure the Bible has its share of reviews and adjustments.

Now to the Book of Mormon, the purpose of the Nephite record was very specific - to keep people on the straight and narrow path. That narrow view was due also to the writers' states of mind and availability of writing materials. Writing materials was in short supply. It's readily seen from Nephi's own words that the purpose of keeping records was mainly religious, so much of the valuable materials were used to record sacred things.

"And it came to pass that the Lord God said unto me: Make other plates; and thou shalt engraven many things upon them which are good in my sight, for the profit of thy people. Wherefore, I Nephi, to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord, went and made these plates upon which I have engraven these things. And I engravened that which is pleasing unto God." (2 Nephi 5: 31-32)
It seems from Nephi's own writing that record-keeping was difficult. It took some encouragement from God for Nephi, the most devoted prophet of the Book of Mormon, at one point to expand the records by making more plates. (1 Nephi 19) Even so, he did not document everything - just the things he thought were pleasing to God. From the time the Lehi family arrived in the new world, the authors recorded their history based on economy of materials and efficiency of words - years are compressed into words, decades into paragraphs, and centuries into chapters. The shady areas that comprised most of human activities were mostly ignored in the records. The authors (including Mormon whose compilation constitutes what is now the Book of Mormon) have made up their minds on what was important and necessary to be recorded. The history they wrote was to help their people find God.
The Book of Mormon is a selection from the Nephite record. There are some concerns about the lack of details, but there might be portions of the Nephite record (1 Nephi 19: 4) that might shed light on those concerns. I think Mormon purposefully excluded those portions from his compilation. As the story about this band of people became more complicated, the exclusion of certain things was based on Nephi's own desire, "I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred." (1 Nephi 19: 6)
5. Outward Appearence
I think that extensive use of metaphors by Book of Mormon authors is problematic. For example references to race or skin color - white versus black. Jacob used color to contrast personal purity.
"O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought before the throne of God." (Jacob 3: 8)
What we called "white" people is mostly found in the northern countries. We find various light skin people living in northern latitudes from Iceland to Siberia. In the Middle East, however, we find a much more diverse racial mix from contacts with Egypt and Ethiopia, and light skin people from the north. We learn from the Book of Mormon that Lehi traced his roots to Joseph who was sold by his brothers to an Egyptian. Joseph married an Egyptian and had children by her. I can't really take Nephi's racial classification as "white" versus "black" as a "skin" separation only. Rather, I see a much more complicated situation where a separate branch of the Lehi family merged with African colonists (9) who were present in the Americas when they arrived.
"Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but 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: 13-14)
It's only amongst the Lamanites that a Queen (Alma 19:3) is mentioned. The Nephites were staunchly Patriarchal - kings, judges, and prophets were all men. The record mentions no Queen with the Nephites. Likewise, in the old world, Israel was mostly patriarchal (10) as well. Many of African cultures were matriarchal, so queens were prominent in many part of world. This is why I think that it is reasonable to assume that a branch of the Lehi family followed Laman and allied with people who migrated from Africa, and who were present in the new world when Lehi arrived with his family. I believe that Laman and his followers encountered the Africans which they overpowered and became their leaders. This of course is a speculation on my part. I do a lot of speculating in this paper. Perhaps that is a parallel to the arrival of the conquistadors in the Inca country years into the future.
6. Did they become a different people?
How white were the Nephites? How dark were the Lamanites? We may find the answer to those questions by looking at today's people of the Middle East. The return of many Jews from northern European countries in the early part of the 20th Century brought more European looking Jews into British Palestine. Besides that migration, today's racial situation in the Middle East might not be that much different when Lehi left Jerusalem 600 BC. I saw a C-SPAN talk show, on January 13th, 2005, that featured Josef Joffe who was the publisher and editor of the German newspaper Die Zeit. He was on the show to promote his book. A caller mentioned an idea of how to separate the white Israelis from brown Arabs. That prompted Joffe to say that if the caller had spent any time in Israel, he would know that "Israel is a fairly brown country," and not entirely pale and blue-eyed as the caller falsely assumed. That misconception is probably a result of movies and art depicting Biblical characters as Scandinavians. One of the reasons why I think the Shroud of Turin is a fraud is because the image on the shroud looks too European. (11) Israel sits in a once popular crossroad that connected the northern countries to Egypt and the rest of Africa. Goods and people were traded along those roads with an admixture of ideas and human DNA.
"And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us." (Enos 13, 20)
Enos lived and wrote his part of the Nephite record about 140 years after Lehi's arrival in the new world. Much had happened since they arrived, and as seen from Enos' writing, the division between Nephites and Lamanites was well established. How reliable are Enos' description of the Lamanites? Can we assume that Enos spoke generally about the Lamanites using the least favorable, most detestable language? Maybe there were some merits to how the Lamanites did things. Oddly, it was the Lamanites that eventually destroyed the Nephites - despite the apparent weaknesses Enos so aptly mentioned.
In a previous time, even Nephi wrote how they ate raw meat (1 Nehpi 17: 2) with positive results with their children. I'm curious why Book of Mormon writers refer to eating raw meat as a measure of the Lamanite uncivilized condition. Humans much prefer the smell and texture of roasted meat, and it's a habit that would be hard to rid once had. Cooked meat is a lot easier to chew and digest. So, why do they continually use that against the Lamanites? They hated those Lamanite animals.
At a later time, the sons of king Mosiah desired to proselytize the Lamanites to "bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites." (Mosiah 28) They said nothing about going there to change their fashion and dietary habits.
The awful descriptions of the Lamanites started mostly from Nephi and his brother Jacob. God's purpose (2 Nephi 5: 22, 25) was to make the Lamanites loathsome to Nephi, and promised Nephi that the Lamanites will destroy his people if they disobey Him too. If I was Nephi and God gave me that promise, I too would have some unkind words for the Lamanites. Various Book of Mormon authors used labels to give potency to their teachings. This is particularly true of Mormon, who hopelessly saw his beloved Nephites spiraling downward. Mormon compiled the portion of the record that Joseph Smith translated. I feel those labels were very subjective. In wars, different sides will discredit each other using the worst cases.
For authors who probably had visions of the final destruction of their beloved people, what better way to convey their contempt for their enemies than to degrade them to sub species? Oh, they love them as God's children, but it was better if they become like them. Life can be so complicated. So, depending on who is writing what, the presentation of facts can be somewhat shady at times. Jacob summarizes a truth about the Lamanites in his speech after the death of Nephi.
"Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skin, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our fathers - that they should have save it one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them. And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and one day they shall become a blessed people." (Jacob 3: 5-6)
It appears that some Lamanites continued to practice parts of the (12) Laws of Moses. The description of Lamanites could be personal and based on each writer's involvements with the Lamanites. For example, Ziniff (Mosiah 9) who spied on the Lamanites desired "that they should not be destroyed" because he saw something "good among them." What was it that he saw? He did not explain. However, because of his mistreatment by king Laman, his ranting and raving ("they were lazy and an idolatrous people") characterized his report.
This bias extended to other religious matters. Another example is about the Lamanite prophet Samuel who suddenly appeared in the records. We really do not know much about him except from the story about him prophesying to the Nephites. There was probably more about Samuel than that brief story. Unfortunately, we will never know. The resurrected Jesus, when he appeared to the Nephites, questioned why another of Samuel's prediction was not recorded. Was it a blunder?
"And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled. And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?" (3 Nephi 23: 10-11)
The story about Samuel the Lamanite occurred during a period when, according to the record, there were more righteous Lamanites than Nephites.
"And now it came to pass in the eighty and sixth year, the Nephites did still remain in wickedness, yea, in great wickedness, while the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God, according to the Law of Moses." (Helaman 13: 1)
However, the writer does not seem to want to give them credit for been righteous as Lamanites. Instead, he made the following entry that minimized the importance of anything Lamanite. To the eyes of this Nephite writer, a Lamanite is damned as long as he remained a Lamanite.
"And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites; And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair, and they were numbered among the Nephites, and were called Nephites." (3 Nephi 3: 15 - 16)
The Nephites' ultimate demise gave this writer another opportunity to give a final swipe to their old nemesis. It wasn't bad enough that his people chose the dark side - they became Lamanites. Yikes!
"...until they have fallen into transgression and have been murdered, plundered, and hunted, and driven forth, and slain, and scattered upon the face of the earth, and mixed with the Lamanites until they are no more called the Nephites, becoming wicked, and wild, and ferocious, yea, even becoming Lamanites." (Helaman 3: 15-16)
The two groups joined and fell apart occasionally throughout the Book of Mormon story; became alike in piousness and savagery. Another recording in the Book of Mormon seems to say that not all Lamanites were wild - "Now the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents..." (Alma 22: 28). This shows that there was a diversity of cultures even amongst the Lamanites.
Here is how a 17th century priest described the Indians. According to this Spanish chronicler, the Indians needed to be lead into the light. Other Spaniards with guns and swords did just that. Sound familiar?
"The Indians of Peru were so idolatrous that they worshiped as Gods almost every kind of thing created. Since they did not have supernatural insights, they fell into the same errors and folly as the other nations of pagans, and for the same reasons both the Peruvians and the other pagans were unable to find the true God." (Father Bernabe Cobo, Inca Religion & Customs, p.3)
7. Knowledge as a blessing and a curse
"And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him - that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his arm, that it might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be brought unto salvation" (Enos 13)
"And it came to pass that I did go forth among the Nephites, and did repent of the oath which I made that I would no more assist them; and they gave me command again of their armies, for they looked upon me as though I could deliver them from their afflictions. But behold, I was without hope, for I knew the judgments of the Lord which should come upon them; for they repented not for their iniquities, but did struggle for their lives without calling upon that Being who created them." (Mormon 5: 1-2)
The prophet Mormon during the waning years of the Nephite nation noted something ominously similar to what was prophesied by earlier prophets. Mormon witnessed the end of the Nephite nation because of their iniquity just as it was warned by previous writers. All his efforts to reverse the course of events were fruitless. This was the subject that obsessed many Nephite prophets starting from Nephi. They saw the fate of their beloved Nephites - decried their wickedness (13) and worked tirelessly to avoid certain destruction. Did Nephite prophets foresaw the fall of the Nephite nation? I find that almost every Book of Mormon writer had something to say to future generations - well beyond the demise of the Nephite nation. Despite their constant wars, the Nephites continually made great efforts to convert the Lamanites to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At some points their efforts were so successful that some converted Lamanites became more righteous than some Nephites.