A while back, I reported on a misleading display in the Church History Museum about the "Indian Mission."
http://mormonmesomania.blogspot.com/2016/11/visit-to-church-history-museum.html
Today I revisited the museum and I'm happy to say they have corrected the exhibit.
The old sign told visitors that "Early Church members believed that these Indians were descendants of Israelites who were known as Lamanites in the Book of Mormon."
The new sign deletes the rhetoric about what "early Church members" believed and instead declares this:
In the autumn of 1830 in New York, Joseph Smith received three revelations in which the Lord called Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson to preach to the Lamanites, one of three groups of people described in the Book of Mormon. Lamanites are among the ancestors of the American Indians.
Consequently, in late 1830, Oliver Cowdery and his companions preached to Seneca Indians in New York and Huron Indians in Ohio. Both nations expressed some interest in the Book of Mormon, which the missionaries shared with them as a record of their forefathers.
Oliver, Parley, and a new convert, Frederick G. Williams, journeyed into Indian Territory (present-day Kansas and Oklahoma), where the Lenape (Delaware) and Shawnee Nations showed great interest in the Book of Mormon.
The description is accompanied by an image of Lenape chief William Anderson.
I'm very happy to see this change!
http://mormonmesomania.blogspot.com/2016/11/visit-to-church-history-museum.html
Today I revisited the museum and I'm happy to say they have corrected the exhibit.
The old sign told visitors that "Early Church members believed that these Indians were descendants of Israelites who were known as Lamanites in the Book of Mormon."
The new sign deletes the rhetoric about what "early Church members" believed and instead declares this:
In the autumn of 1830 in New York, Joseph Smith received three revelations in which the Lord called Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson to preach to the Lamanites, one of three groups of people described in the Book of Mormon. Lamanites are among the ancestors of the American Indians.
Consequently, in late 1830, Oliver Cowdery and his companions preached to Seneca Indians in New York and Huron Indians in Ohio. Both nations expressed some interest in the Book of Mormon, which the missionaries shared with them as a record of their forefathers.
Oliver, Parley, and a new convert, Frederick G. Williams, journeyed into Indian Territory (present-day Kansas and Oklahoma), where the Lenape (Delaware) and Shawnee Nations showed great interest in the Book of Mormon.
The description is accompanied by an image of Lenape chief William Anderson.
I'm very happy to see this change!
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| Old Exhibit showing "Indian Mission" with Oliver Cowdery and Parley P. Pratt |
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| New Exhibit showing "Indian Mission" with Chief Anderson |
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| Side panel of new exhibit. Notice how the images of Chief Anderson and Cowdery/Pratt have been swapped. |
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| Old display that claimed "early Church members" believed the Indians were Lamanites |
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| New display that claims these Indians are Lamanites. |
This caption is incorrect: "New display that claims these Indians are Lamanites."
ReplyDeleteThe caption should read: "New display that claims these Indians may have some Lamanite ancestors." The display is clear in its verbage: "Lamanites are AMONG the ancestors of the American Indians" (emphasis added by me). Which means that they could be anywhere from 0.01% of their ancestry to 99.9% of their ancestry. The word "among" signifies that it's one of many ancestors.