Palmyra 1825: Indians and Jews and the Book of Mormon

An article in the Wayne Sentinel, published in Palmyra, NY on Tuesday, October 11th, 1825, and available here, discusses the Jews in Europe but also the "Indians of the American Continent."

(click to enlarge)

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Transcript:

M.M. Noah Speech - Concluded

The Jews have resided in Rome since they were brought captive to that capital...

The discovery of the lost tribes of Israel, has never ceased to be a subject of deep interest to the Jews. That divine protection which has been bestowed upon the chosen people, from the infancy of nature to the present period, has, without doubt, been equally extended to the missing tribes, and if, as I have reason to believe, our lost brethren were the ancestors of the Indians of the American Continent the inscrutable decrees of the Almighty have been fulfilled in spreading unity and onnipotence [sic] to every quarter of the globe. 

Upwards of three thousand years have elapsed, since the nine and a half tribes were carried captive by Pahranazar, King of Assyria. It is supposed they were spread over the various countries of the East, and by international marriages, have lost their identity of character. It is, however, probable that from the previous sufferings of the tribes to Egyptian bondage, that they bent their course in a northwest direction, which brought them within a few leagues of the American Continent and which they finally reached.

Those who are most conversant with the public and private economy of the Indians, are strongly of opinion that they are the lineal descendants of the Israelites, and my own researches go far to confirm me in the same belief.

- The Indians worship one Supreme Being as the fountain of life, and the author of all creation. 

- Like the Israelites of old, they are divided into tribes, having their Chief and distinctive Symbol to each. 

- Some of their tribes, it is said, are named after the Cherubinical figures that were carried on the four principal Standards of Israel. 

- They consider themselves as the select and beloved people of God, and have all the religious pride which our ancestors are known to have possessed. 

- Their words are sonorous and bold, and their language and dialect are evidently of Hebrew origin. 

- They compute time after the manner of the Israelites, by dividing the year into the four seasons, and their sub divisions are the lunar months, or our new Moons commencing according to the ecclesiastical year of Moses, the first Moon after the vernal equinox. 

- They have their prophets, High Priests, and their sanctum sanctorum, in which all their consecrated vessels are deposited, and which are only to be approached by their archimagas or High Priest. 

- They leave their towns and cities of refuge--they have sacrifices and fastings--they abstain from unclean things, in short, in their marriages, divorces, punishment of adultery, burial of the dead, and mourning, they bear a striking analogy to our people. 

How came they on this continent, and if indigenous, when did they acquire the principles and essential forms of the Jews? The Indians are not Savages, they are wild and savage in their habits, but possess great vigor of intellect and native talent, they are a brave and eloquent people, with an Asiatic complexion and Jewish features. 

Should we be right in our conjecture, what new scenes are opened to the nation--the first people in the old world, and the rightful inheritors of the new? Spread from the confines of the north west coat of Cape Horn, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

If the tribes could be brought together, could be made sensible of their origin, could be civilized, and restored to their long lost brethren, what joy to our people, what glory to our God, how clearly have the prophesies been fulfilled, how certain our dispersion, how miraculous our preservation, how providential our deliverance. 

It shall be my duty to pursue the subject by every means in my power.

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This article is an example of a common belief during Joseph Smith's day. From the time they first came to America, Europeans speculated about the origin of the American Indians. Many believed they were the lost 10 tribes of Israel and that they crossed over from Asia around the Bering Strait.

The Book of Mormon does not relate the popular narratives of the era. Instead of talking about the lost 10 tribes crossing from Asia, we read about a more ancient group from Asia, the Jaredites, who came to America. We also read about a small group of Israelites who escaped Jerusalem around 600 BC and sailed to America. 

From the Book of Mormon, we would expect to find both Asian and Israelite characteristics among the ancient inhabitants of North America, but we would also expect the Israelite characteristics to have mostly dissipated. This narrative is consistent with the archaeological discovery of two separate civilizations in North America, the Adena and Hopewell, which correspond chronologically with the Jaredites and the Nephites/Lamanites. 

The Book of Mormon relates the destruction of the Jaredites "in this north country" of New York at the hill Ramah, but tells us nothing about the Jaredites who migrated to other parts of the continent. We infer from the text that the Nephites/Lamanites mingled with the descendants of the Jaredites who did not live "in this north country," just as the later Hopewell mingled with the earlier Adena. 

The Book of Mormon also relates the account of several years of war and retreat by the Nephites, ending with the destruction of the two final military units (each named "ten thousand") of Nephites at Cumorah (Ramah). But the book tells us little to nothing about the far larger population of Native Americans who were not counted among the Nephites.