That is one of the mysteries of Mormon thinking. If they were to say that they followed the traditions of or the belief system of the ancient Israelites then that might work. But history is evidence that descending from Israel is not true! This is where direct revelation as they believe in is flawed!

Nothing in our theology excludes the possibility that people came over a land bridge connecting Asia to North America.

DNA, archaeological, and linguistic evidence disprove this belief.

Let us throw out all the religious techs and focus on history. The oldest know civilizations are found around the Mediterranean Sea, whether it is in African, Egypt, or any of the other countries that are surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. And as civilization expands, newer and newer records are found. In Asia, the oldest known records are in the West and as you go east newer and newer history takes place. In American the oldest known records of the European civilization is on the East coast then the West coast were the Spaniards settled and as you go from East to Central states they are the newer ones, just see when each state became a state. The oldest records in Africa are in the North and as you go south, newer civilizations are recorded. So reason and logic would say - at this point is the oldest record of a civilization and as we move in this direction, newer records are found. Where are the oldest known civilizations in the Americas? They are in South American. Yet in this one case we are to believe that man came across the Bearing Straits, down through Canada, through North American, then Central America, then in South American and than began building cities and history. And then began moving north again, into Central America and then back into North America. Well if you can buy that and other things written in America History books, then well let us just say you are very gullible.

A close reading of the Book of Mormon text clearly supports the "limited geography" approach, meaning that the events described took place in a relatively limited area, not the entire North/South American continent. Most Book of Mormon scholars since the 20th Century believe in a limited geography approach, and most believe that Meso-America is the likely location (Southern Mexico and Gutatmala, roughly). Further, most scholars agree that BoM peoples were likely NOT the only peoples present on the continents of North and South America at that time, an idea that is also supported by a close reading of the text. In short: the consensus of most modern believing LDS scholars, who actually think about this question seriously and take their conclusions from the text itself, is that BoM peoples were not the only inhabitants of the Americas, that North American Indians were primary *not* descended from the BoM peoples, that Central American Indians are *in part* (but not entirely) descended from BoM peoples. However, it is true that in the first hundred years of the Church, people did believe that Lamanites were the sole ancestors of all native Americans, because they interpreted the Book of Mormon to be the history of the entire North/South American continents, and its peoples to be the sole inhabitants of the Americas (an interpretation that is simply *not* supported by a close reading of the text).

There is plenty of evidence that connects the House of Israel to Central and South America. Read books published by FARMS, which is a group of scholars who research these things and are well respected around the world. The most recent editions of the Book of Mormon (in the Introduction) make clear that the Nephites, Lamanites, Mulekites, and Jaredites (three separate migrations) are merely among the ancestors of the American Indians, and not their soul progenitorship. If there were three migrations, not counting Columbus et al, there were probably more, and if God could lead the children of Israel across the Red Sea, it would not surprise me if at some point he also helped some cross a land bridge in Asia.

There is no proof, whether DNA, archaelogical or linguistic, for a connection between Amerindians and Israel. Joseph Smith made the claims he did at a time when people knew little of Middle Eastern culture and when British Israelism was on the rise. His claim to a link between Israel and the AMerindians was part of an Old World Centric way of thinking that has been debunked in the same way that Von Danieken's claim that aliens built both the Egyptian pyramids and the American ones. The best example of his lack of understanding was his claim to be able to translate 4 hieroglyphic texts. This sums that up: "Scholarly and expert interviews intertwine the narrative to tell Smith's story about obtaining and translating the Egyptian hieroglyphic scrolls found in four mummies. The young Mormon Church purchased the scrolls for $2,400 from Michael H. Chandler's traveling sideshow. Smith's astounding claim that he had discovered the writings of Abraham and Joseph (curiously within these four mummies that happened through Ohio!), the Old Testament patriarchs, sets the table for debate. The film succeeds in balancing the pro and con arguments on Smith's translation of the Mormon sacred scripture, the Book of Abraham, but in the end, little is left in favor of Smith except to say that he "spiritually" translated the text regardless of what linguists challenge. As an added bonus, the movie exposes Smith's fraudulent Egyptian/English alphabet and grammar. Without divine aid, it would have been impossible for Smith to translate the Egyptian alphabet without the minimal aid of Egyptian from the not-yet-published translation of the Rosetta Stone. Smith had no education in Egyptian hieroglyphs, yet he also produced an Egyptian grammar. This too was impossible without knowing the language. Genuine Egyptologists regard both of Smith's works as deceptive frauds. The weight of evidence against Smith is overwhelming as qualified Egyptologists refute him from the 1850's to our present time. Yet Smith's supporters are forced to stand by his Egyptian alphabet and grammar, since he apparently used them in translating the Book of Abraham. " http://www.mormoninfo.org/news-info/film-reviews/critical-films/lost-book-abraham

Some common explanations include the following (the first two are explained in more detail here: http://farms.byu.edu/publications/dna/ButlerBofMandDNA_Feb2006.php): 1) Even though the Book of Mormon doesn't state that there were other peoples present in the Americas when Lehi arrived, there very well may have been. 2) DNA testing is complicated, not exhaustive, and we could have missed something showing Israelite DNA exists in Native Americans. 3) When God changed the skin color of the Native Americans, he changed their DNA as well.

There are all kinds of theories, which cannot be proved without unreasonable doubt. America and it's ancient population is to large and complex to prove or disprove all theories. . Answers to this type of question will come to light in the next life. There is no theory that proves or disproves other theories. . This question has the appearance of trying to find contractions with the history of the Book of Mormon and theories of historical scenarios created by historical scholars. By so doing, Mr asweetguy4u2know saya R.I.P Nelson appears to wish to disprove the validity of the history contained in the Book of Mormon. . If you wish to disprove the Book of Mormon by such evidence, you must remember that all you have are theories. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, giving any conclusion derived by physical and scientific evidence very little credibility in proving the veracity or falsehood of the Book of Mormon. . God reveals His will to His servants, giving only enough evidence which would require each of us to exercise our Faith in God for us to search and find the truth and live His commandments. We are here in this life to prove our faith in God by learning the Truth and showing our love for God by obeying His commandments. . If God made it easy for us to believe, we would not learn and grow and develop our faith in Him.

Well, they explained it by changing a core principle of their faith, just last year. It used to say, at the very beginning of the Book of Mormon, that Israelites were THE principle ancestors of Native Americans... NOW (2008 edition and after) it says that the Israelites were "AMONG the principle ancestors" of Native Americans, an unfalsifiable claim that should extend the life of the hoax for several generations further, until in about 60 years they can finally claim that they never ever taught that in the first place. That's what they do, historically.

New evidence has just been uncovered in just the last few years. A young man named Rod Meldrum has done some extensive Scientific research on the Book of Mormon and has uncovered some very earth shattering information. It is his contention that the Book of Mormon DID NOT TAKE PLACE IN SOUTH AMERICA! But by DNA Evidence has found that the Book of Mormon took place here in United states. It appears Nephi landed in the Gulf of Mexico around, what we now call New Orleans. And spread north from there. They settled mostly in the plains area, of Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and New York. Science has known for years of a new Gene found in DNA testing which they call Haplogroup x2. Which can only be found among the Native American Indians in United States and among certain European countries, such as Israel, Belgium, and Italy. This Gene,(Haplogroup x2) is not found anywhere else in the world. Not even in South America! Apparently their lands here in America are from the Gulf of Mexico, to the Great Lakes area including New York, East of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, but not past the mountains. Bro. Meldrum is a member of the Church so he also uses our scriptures to verify much of the Book of Mormon, as is to be expected. It appears the Lord told Joseph Smith a great deal about the Geography of the Book of Mormon, which many of us has ignored till now, because all of our experts and scholars kept saying the book took place in south America, and still do in fact. But that will change soon. You cannot argue with DNA and true Science. Everything mentioned, or nearly so can be found here in United States, exactly the way it is described in the Book of Mormon. But scholars are hard pressed to prove the same things in South America. Just be aware things are now coming forth which had been hid for so many years. Check out this website..http://www.bookofmormonevidence.org Whew4

About a decade ago, there was an associated press article regarding a summit of scientists held in the Pacific Northwest that was printed in the Eugene Register-Guard newspaper. I clipped the article, but have since lost it. In the article covering the summit, it explained that many of the scientists had placed the importance of the 'land bridge' migration theory as less important to that of migration by sea in the settlement of the Americas. What was so interesting about the article was that the prevailing belief at that time was of 3 seperate sea migrations to the new world, which doesn't completely support the Book of Mormon accounts of the Jaredites, Nephites/Lamanites & Mulekites due to the belief that the migrations were thousands of years ago, but still...3 migrations by sea. The book, 'He Walked the Americas' by Hansen contains some Native American legends/oral traditions of their early ancestors regarding a bearded man who had similar characteristics to Jesus Christ and his teachings. My cousin had a book that was out-of-print regarding the Cherokee people and their contact with the first white man. The man's journal recorded how he slowly gained their trust enough that they shared with him some of their sacred history, which included stories similar to Moses, Noah & the Great flood, a belief in a godhead trinity and a Cheezus (Jesus?), which they said was difficult to say in their language. In conclusion, not everything is so cut/dry about early native american heritage. I think it's unrealistic to assume that none of them have a possible Israelite connection as well as assuming all do. We gain new insight into these issues as time rolls on.

The world is full of delusional people who misinterpret their fantasies,and peculiar notions about religion and society as spiritual revelation. They create myths about the events and people of the past to support their beliefs. Apparently John Smith had ideas that lacked any connection to reality. Why would anyone follow a confused,false prophet? This man was a lost soul with a tenuous grip on reality.

Mormons have a pretty huge list of discrepancies they need to explain.

Moroni finished writing about 420 A.D. That gave other civilizations over 1000 to erase any Lehite DNA and lingual heritage before Europeans arrived. Our current DNA technologies can only verify 2 ancestors per generation: the all male line (father's father's father, etc) and the all female line (mother's mother's mother, etc). I can only be tested for genetic relationship with 2 of my grandparents (50%), 2 of my great grandparents (25%), 2 of my 2nd great grandparents (12.5%), 2 of my 3rd great grandparents (6.25%) -- and that only takes us back approximately 200 years. Imagine the changes in DNA markers which could occur in a 1000 year span.

All the crap they say, and that's what you are focusing on? How about the lizard that spoke to him?

Ever since the genetic analysis- with an enormous amount of back pedaling.

The Indian's oral history says they came from the land of the rising sun, which would be the east. They als say that they came over on boats, which is what the BOM says.

"Native American historians" ??? I very much doubt that there are any Native American HISTORICAL sources indicating such a migration. There are science theories to that effect, based on findings in geology, tectonics, genetics and other disciplines, and the scientific community in general support those theories with some exceptions (eg the redhaired genotypes in South America that fit rather badly with the theory, and the Inuit Culture that links Siberia,Canada and Greenland). The mormons have no need to 'explain' a discrepancy because there is none. It is entirely possible for different groups to have migrated to the Americas at different times, And AFAIK Mormon dogma do not claim that an Israelite group were the only people to ever do so (before Columbus). regards JakobA

A CLARIFICATION: >Native Aerican historians believe the Native Americans migrated from parts of Asia an Russia< This statement is fallacious. It should read, "Historians have traditionally theorized that the Native Americans migrated from parts of Asia and Russia and recent DNA evidence has validated this theory." SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: AUDIO: Dr. Simon Southerton ''Losing a Lost Race: From Radishes to DNA http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=75558&catid=520 VIDEO: DNA v. The Book of Mormon http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=74669&catid=513

More like remove your anti-religion bias from the question and ask, how do Aerican historians explain this discrepancy, after all they are never 100% right. You how can you explain this discrepancy?

Q: How do Mormons explain this discrepancy? SHORT ANSWER: "Nephites and Lamanites made up only a small portion of the total New World population during the Book of Mormon's time frame." LONG ANSWER: (Excerpted from Ross Anderson's Book, "Understanding the Book of Mormon") While some LDS scholars claim that DNA results are inconclusive and thus do not undermine the traditional view, others have adopted the hypothesis that most Native Americans are of Asian origin, while a small subset is Semitic. If so, Nephites and Lamanites made up only a small portion of the total New World population during the Book of Mormon's time frame.[6] The LDS Church has seemingly acknowledged that the DNA evidence carries some weight. For example, the introduction to the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon identifies the Lamanites as "the principle ancestors of the American Indians."[7] The 2006 edition states that the Lamanites "are among the ancestors of the American Indians." This change accommodates the current scientific consensus at the expense of the traditional LDS view. But if the Nephite and Lamanite clans were not alone in the Americas, it seems odd that the Book of Mormon never mentions the numerous people who must have lived in surrounding lands and who surely would have interacted with them. [6] On the DNA issue, see D. Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent D. Stephens, "Who Are the Children of Lehi?" Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12, no. 1 (2003): 38-51. [link] [7] Carrie A. Moore, "Debate Renewed with Change of Book of Mormon Introduction," The Deseret Morning News (November 8, 2007). http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no112.htm#Understanding

I am not a moron (I mean Mormon), but Israel lies on the continent of Asia. When the Romans forced the Israelites out of their homeland, they fled in all directions of the compass. Some ended up in South Africa, Europe, and far east Asia. Unique Genes found only in Jews confirms what was handed down through many generations. DNA proof shows they all have common Jewish traits. http://www.mavensearch.com/synagogues/C3369 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Ten_Tribes (I can't remember the name, but there is one really famous Synagogue temple in China)

The Book of Mormon documents two groups coming to this continent, but does not preclude others. . I prefer to treat this just as I do the controversy between the Biblical account of creation and Scientific theories on the subject. . I believe there are truth and there are errors on both sides of each question. But when we see the whole picture we will see that the views of the contestants are simply different perspectives on the same events, and that, with the errors weeded out, we will see that what remains dovetails perfectly.

How could an ancient civilization of Israelite native Americans write a new testament and bury it with a translator for future peoples to read, if they didn't know what language the people who needed to translate it, 2000 or so years later, were going to be speaking? I mean cmon! and if the "red natives" were around for all of this would they have some kind of history on the subject? wouldn't the natives be building temples to Jehovah and not the sun god? but there aren't any temples like that or anything written in stone. the entire religion is based off of what one 17th century colonist either hallucinated or dreamed, and that's it!

Well, Mormonism encourages that people determine the truth for themselves. Over and over again we are asked to heed the voice of the Holy Ghost within. I have read so much of these books and can only say that when I read something I have an entirely different take than some people profess. So, again, much misunderstanding. People should follow what their heart not so much the head tells them is the right path. I have noticed that logic is often wrong, whereas the heart rarely deceives and the Holy Ghost is always right. When I read the book, I understood they were talking about two tribes and only a small fraction of the continent in Central America.