Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church [Paperback]

Simon G. Southerton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2004

 For the past 175 years, the Latter-day Saint Church has taught that Native Americans and Polynesians are descended from ancient seafaring Israelites. Recent DNA research confirms what anthropologists have been saying for nearly as many years, that Native Americans are originally from Siberia and Polynesians from Southeast Asia. In the current volume, molecular biologist Simon Southerton explains the theology and the science and how the former is being reshaped by the latter.

In the Book of Mormon, the Jewish prophet Lehi says the following after arriving by boat in America in 600 BCE:

Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves (2 Ne. 1:9).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the time of its publication in 1830, both the Book of Mormon and its translator, Joseph Smith Jr., have been the focus of admiration as well as criticism. The book's account of pre-Christian journeys from the Middle East to the Americas and subsequent identification of North American indigenous populations with Israelite tribes was not uncommon among Smith's contemporaries. Southerton, an Australian molecular scientist, explores these claims from a scientific standpoint and concludes that there is no evidence of Israelite descent among American Indians, Polynesians or others identified as ancestors of Book of Mormon peoples. Discussions about genetics and heredity can be a bit impenetrable to the nonscientist, but these constitute only part of the book. The author, raised Mormon but no longer a believer, uses the DNA issue to launch an attack on both bad science and what he perceives as widespread racism in the LDS Church. He blames the Book of Mormon for what he calls the church's "insidious view of a superior white race." Southerton proffers a book that is part scientific exploration and part anti-Mormon polemic, so it's likely to be closely studied by the Mormon apologetic community. Readers will decide for themselves how credible his arguments are.
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About the Author

 Simon G. Southerton is Principal Research Scientist in the Applied Biotechnology and Genomics area of the Commonwealth Scientific laboratories (CSIRO) in Canberra, Australia. His Ph.D. is from the University of Sydney. He has published in New Phytologist, Plant Journal, Plant Molecular Biology, and Plant Physiology. He served an LDS mission to Melbourne in the 1980s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Signature Books; First Edition edition (August 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560851813
• ISBN-13: 978-1560851813
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 137 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Losing a Lost Tribe October 9, 2004

By Steven R. Clark

Format:Paperback

After having just read "Losing a Lost Tribe" from cover to cover I give Dr. Southerton's research and writing a well deserved five star rating.

The author demystifies and simplifies what the Mormon apologists mystify and complicate. For example Southerton asks this basic but brilliant question. "Ten centuries ago a handful of Norse sailors slipped into Newfoundland, established small colonies, traded with local natives, the sailed back into the fog of history. In spite of the small scale of their settlements and the brevity of their stay, unequivocal evidence of their presence has been found. Just six centuries earlier the Book of Mormon tells us, a climactic battle between fair-skinned Nephites and dark-skinned Lamanites ended a millennial dominion by a literate, Christian, Bronze Age civilization with a population numbering in the millions. Decades of serious and honest scholarship have failed to uncover credible evidence that these Book of Mormon civilizations ever existed. How is it that they remain a great civilization vanished without a trace, the people along with their genes?" (page 199)

From Southerton's expert vantage point he vividly describes the widening three-way chasm between Latter-day prophets, their own BYU based apologists and their faithful flock The DNA science that Southerton clearly lays out is forcing the Mormon prophets, apologists and LDS adherents to bend themselves into pretzel like positions in order to maintain their faith and keep their church in a more politically correct big business.

After reading Southerton's account I liken the conflict brewing between the current Mormon prophet Gordon B.... Hinckley and BYU's FARMS to the maneuvering in a professional wrestling tag-team match where opponents fail to pin the other down while the faithful fans cheer them on. The bluffing bravado between the opponents smacks of image cosmetics lacking any substance to the event itself. However, there indeed may be a continuing entertainment factor in watching subsequent rounds of this comedy of errors. In my opinion Southerton's DNA science "body slams" both rivals.

Southerton displays a keen sensitivity toward Native Americans ethnicity and culture while the Book of Mormon treats these people as objects of a "1820's frontier whiteman" racial bias and prejudice. After contemplating the author's writings I recommend that the LDS Church offer a written official apology to the hundreds indigenous nations of the Western Hemisphere for hoisting such Book of Mormon insults and racial slurs upon them. Sadly, the book after which Mormonism obtained its name sake may become its own "darkened curse."

Ironically Southerton's work points out how the Mormon Church views science as an enemy to the Book of Mormon tradition rather than as a liberating tool of truth. Unfortunately current Mormon leaders interpret DNA as "Do Not Acknowledge."

I commend Dr. Southerton for the personal courage required to publicly disavow his LDS faith of origin rather than sweep his discoveries under the proverbial carpet. Read more ›

64 of 73 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simon knows his stuff September 20, 2004

By Moroni's Little Helper

Format:Paperback

LDS "wannabe" marine's histrionic meltdown notwithstanding, Southerton's book lays out clearly, concisely, and accurately the case against the Book of Mormon being the literal history of a group of Israelites in the Western Hemisphere from 600 BCE to 421 CE. Use of DNA testing has put the final nail in the BoM as historical text's coffin. Previous efforts to find archaelogical and linguistic support for the book have failed, with one noted investigator losing his faith and cursing its founder. Southerton's book should give faithful Mormons cause to evaluate their faith and reconsider assumptions about the book's historicity.

66 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A book well worth reading October 16, 2004

By Dr. H. Preston Bissell

Format:Paperback

Although this book is not a "silver bullet" through the heart of Mormonism, it presents sufficient information about Native American and Polynesian molecular genetics as to call into question the traditional claims of Mormonism.

Southerton's credentials, as a scientist and as a Mormon, cannot be questioned. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to Mormon history, doctrine, and traditions. As a molecular geneticist, he also has a firm grasp of the science of genetics. He presents his facts in a straight-forward, readable manner. Even non-scientists will be able to understand his presentation of genetics without any difficulty.

Regrettably, too few Mormons will even be aware of this book, let alone the facts that Southerton presents. However, for the serious investigator, this presents information that should be considered before "buying into" the Mormon version of the Book of Mormon.

The serious reader who gives this book an unemotional reading will have definite cause to question the claims made by the Mormon Church for the origins of the Book of Mormon.

For a person simply interested in the origins of Native Americans and Polynesians, this book gives a concise, but accurate account that will be of interest. For those interested in further research, Southerton provides a comprehensive bibliograpy.

I highly recommend this book.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Book of Mormon, DNA, and Native Americans September 1, 2006

By Crack Reviewer

Format:Paperback

Simon Southerton, a scientist from Australia, and former Mormon Bishop was uniquely qualified to write this analysis of what we can say about the origins of Native Americans based on DNA evidence. In summary, Southerton reviews DNA evidence compiled by scientists around the world and concludes that it disapproves an essential claim of the Book of Mormon. In fact, Southerton felt so strongly about this it caused him to leave the church.

Strong believers in the LDS Church who have read the Book of Mormon are generally familiar with the basic story or claims. It is claimed that a group of people known as the "Nephites" who lived around Jerusalem at approximately 600 BC, left the Middleast, and sailed by ship until they reached the Americas. The church has never specifically said where the Nephites emigrated to on the American continent. Further, there is virtually no archaelogical evidence that would prove such a group of people ever lived. Supposedly, this group of people spread out throughout the land and established huge communities. They were an advanced civilization with horses and chariots. They made clothing from silk. They grew crops of wheat and barley. They were engaged in ship building and metal working. They used steel swords.

Despite the lack of archaelogical evidence that exists to support these claims, it was hard to specifically dispprove them. LDS theology has stubbornly maintained there was a strong genetic link between American Indians and a group of people with dark skins who broke off from the Nephites known as the "Lamanites". The introduction to the Book of Mormon speaks of the American Indians being descendants of the Lamanites. So the church appears to endorse this position....

In recent years, many scientists have used DNA testing to try and discover what races and groups of people in the world are related to one another. Studies have been done by scientists with no axe to grind against the LDS Church. The studies are uniform in finding that there is no possible genetic linkage between 99% or more of modern Native Americans and peoples from the Middleast such as Jews and Egyptians. Perhaps, one percent of American Indians could be argued to have a possible genetic link with individuals from the Middleast. However, this is unlikely too, because they probably represent the fact that some Europeans who came after Columbus (1492) interbred with Native Americans.

Southerton also reviews criticisms of the opposing arguments or criticisms of this research made by LDS Apologists. He does a good job of debunking these arguments one by one.

Its an excellent book written by a scientist with a gift for communicating sophisticated ideas in clear, understandable English to people without a scientific background. Anyone who wants an objective (as opposed to merely "faith promoting") review of the DNA controversy should read Southerton's book.

Southerton succeeds in earning respect for being honest, forthright, and communicating his ideas effectively. Read more ›