JULIO - The Book of Mormon as well as being a testimony to Jesus Christ it is the history of the people that lived in the Americas prior to it's discovery by Columbus. Joseph Smith taught that the native American people were the direct descendants of the Lamanites. He taught that the Lamanites and the Nephites came from Israel. In looking back through an old seminary book I have dealing with the history of the church, I read of how the Nephites had built great cities all throughout Latin America, and how they had been displaced by the Lamanites. This explaining the existance of the Aztec, Mayan and Inca ruins. This has been widely taught by not only Joseph Smith, but by church authorities, and the church in general since I can remember.
The notion that the American Indian belonged to one of the lost tribes of Israel, was actually a popular theory back in the days of Joseph Smith, as it is talked about in the book View of the Hebrew written by Ethan Smith (no relation to Joseph Smith) a few years before Joseph Smith began the translation of the Book of Mormon. In this book Ethan Smith details events very similar to those in the Book of Mormon, in fact it has been widely speculated that Joseph Smith borrowed heavily from this book in order to write the Book of Mormon.
In recent years however, DNA evidence and other archeological findings have pointed to Asia as the real origin of the native American people, not only in North America, but in Central and South America as well. This being the case, it places a great deal of doubt on the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. In light of all this recent development, what is the current church position on the origin of the native American people? How does the church explain that for more than a century the prophets of the church, general authorities, in fact the church itself have taught a religious principal that has now been proven to be false? How does the church explain one of the basic foundation on which the Book of Mormon stood has now been shattered? The church cannot claim that these principals were never taught. There is plenty of proof that this is a very important principal that Joseph Smith taught, and a principal which he claimed to have received through direct revelation from the Lord. Was the Lord lying to him?

JOEL - It is true that church leaders and members in general have assumed and taught that at least some of the native Americans originated from the Book of Mormon Nephite/Lamanite peoples. Despite the "evidence" you suggest, nothing has been discovered yet that absolutely disproves the possibility that at least some native Americans had origins in the Middle East. I am a scientist and I understand the basic principles by which some of the claims are made concerning the DNA and archeological evidences. Genetic evidence that some Native American ancestors came from the Middle East could easily have been diluted over thousands of years, so that it is no longer detectable. There are other issues that make this DNA evidence not so convincing as I have explained on this page.

There are other theories proposed by other scientists that offer alternate views on the origin of some of the native Americans, all of which provide scientific evidence to support these alternate positions. Here is a quote from the American Encyclopedia:

"The Native Americans are widely believed to have come to the Americas via the prehistoric Bering Land Bridge. However, this is not the only theory. Some archaeologists believe that the migration consisted of seafaring tribes that moved along the coast, avoiding mountainous inland terrain and highly variable terrestrial ecosystems. Other researchers have postulated an original settlement by skilled navigators from Oceania, though these American Aborigine people are believed to be nearly extinct. Yet another theory claims an early crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by people originating in Europe. Many native peoples do not believe the migration theory at all. The creation stories of many tribes place the people in North America from the beginning of time."

Prefacing an issue by saying "it has been widely speculated", doesn't mean a thing to me. People who speculate about things are usually wrong; and I believe they are wrong about the "View of the Hebrews". Have you actually read the "View of the Hebrews"? I have, and I can say without a doubt that there is no evidence it was used as a source for the Book of Mormon. There are only a couple of general ideas in that book that are similar to the general idea of the Book of Mormon, that could be found in a hundred other books. For my answer on the "View of the Hebrews" connection go to this page.

The origin of the native Americans is not a "religious principle"; it is not even "a very important principle". The doctrines and gospel contained in the Book of Mormon and Bible are very important religious principles. Archeaological and DNA evidence have nothing to do with the basic foundation of the Book of Mormon. They are only interesting peripheral issues that provide only a small challenge to our faith and belief in the Book. It was written as a book of scripture and religious doctrine, not as a source of history.
The second witness the Book of Mormon provides for the existance of Jesus Christ and His teachings is a basic foundation. The doctrines and faith promoting stories it contains are part of the basic foundation. The life altering lessons it teaches us and the hope it gives us for an eternal life with with God in heaven are parts of its basic foundation. Nothing has been proven that could shatter these foundation components.
When it comes right down to it religion is about faith and not science. Scientists have evidence that many things that happened in the Bible could not be true, yet millions of people still believe in it and have faith that all the unanswered questions will eventually be resolved. Millions of others feel the same way about the Book of Mormon.
The witness I receive from the Holy Ghost about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon will always be stronger than that of a scientist's DNA tests.

JULIO - I think you miss the point all together. If you read back in church history, Joseph Smith claimed in an undeniable and authoritative fashion, since it had been revealed to him by the Lord, that the Native American people were indeed the Lamanites. Not that some of the tribes had origins in the Middle East.
Not that their blood had been diluted over the years. In fact he asserted, that as communicated to him by the Lord, the American Indians where the Lamanites. The church taught this very thing up until the 1970s and the 1980s. It is only recently that as more and more evidence surfaces pointing to Asia as the origin for the people that populated the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus, that the church now seems to be changing it's position. They are making modifications to what they authoritatively taught for over a hundred years.

In fact, to prove the point that Joseph Smith taught that the Native American Indians were the direct descendants of the Lamanites, sometime in May of 1834 while traveling in the company of Mormon soldiers he stopped, near an Indian mound on the banks of the Illinois River. He excavated a skeleton from near the surface of a burrial mound and told the men around him. "This man in mortal life was a white Lamanite, a large, thick-set man, and a man of God. His name was Zelf. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the eastern sea to the Rocky Mountains. The curse of the red skin was taken from him, or, at least in part."

It is obvious that brother Joseph was a great story teller. However the point here is that he indeed taught that the American Indians were the Lamanites or at least direct descendants of the Lamanites.
Again, I reiterate, what is the current church position? Is the church still teaching that the American Indians are the Lamanites or at least direct decendants of the Lamanites or not? If the church is no longer teaching this, has the chuch changed it's position recently? If the church has changed it's positions, is it repudiating what Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and every other General Authority have taught up until the 1970s and 1980s?

JOEL - Sorry I missed your main point. I think your main question was burried in so many other questions and accusations that I didn't see it the first time. As far as I know the Church still teaches and will continue to teach that ancestors of American Indians were the Lamanites of the Book of Mormon.
In 1995, Ted E. Brewerton taught in a General Conference sesssion:

"Many migratory groups came to the Americas, but none was as important as the three mentioned in the Book of Mormon. The blood of these people flows in the veins of the Blackfoot and the Blood Indians of Alberta, Canada; in the Navajo and the Apache of the American Southwest; the Inca of western South America; the Aztec of Mexico; the Maya of Guatemala; and in other native American groups in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific islands. (Ted E. Brewerton, “The Book of Mormon: A Sacred Ancient Record,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 30)

At the Mexico City temple dedication(1983), Elder Gordon B. Hinckley stated: "Most have in their veins the blood of Father Lehi. Thou has kept Thine ancient promise."
At the Guatemala City temple dedication(1984), he prayed: "We thank thee for the recorded record of our ancestors, the record of Lehi, Nephi and Jacob, of Alma and Mosiah, of Benjamin and Mormon and Moroni."
At the Lima Peru temple dedication(1986), he stated: ""We are particularly mindful this day of the sons and daughters of Lehi. They have known so much of suffering and sorrow in their many generations. They have walked in darkness and servitude. Now Thou has touched them by the light of the everlasting gospel."

Most Church leaders don't talk about this much because normally when they do mention the Book of Mormon it is to teach about the doctrines and Gospel of Jesus Christ found within it. That is their main purpose as disciples of Jesus and the main purpose of the book. But the Church is not changing it's position. There are however many Book of Mormon scholars and apologists(including myself) who are expressing their opinions(not the Church's opinion) relating to the current issues regarding archeology and DNA studies. But I believe the Church will hold fast to its belief that American Indians are descendants of the Lamanites.

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