Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

A well thought out book, providing information that complements other areas of scientific research which has always argued that Native Americans were and are of Asian descent. It is important to note that this conclusion, through research in DNA (human genetic research), was independently formulated by many individuals through numerous years of research. Meaning that one field of research did not wholly rely on another to come to the same conclusion. Making for an interesting quandary in regards one of Mormonism's own theologies, "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (2 Cor. 13:1; D&C 6:28; see also Deut. 19:15). As stated in Southerton's book, this has only caused Mormon Apologists to retreat completely from providing a literal location for the happenings described in the Book of Mormon and rely wholly on feelings that such events ever occurred. This intellectual quagmire that Mormon apologists now find themselves in leads one to question the LDS faiths real motive for stating the importance of intellectual advancement. Is it to give their faithful follows the ability to sincerely contemplate the implications of research such as that provided in this book or merely to increase the earning potential of a group that is tithed a portion of their gross income (my question not one presented by the author)?

Good book. A must read. Southerton seems to have his facts straight. The more I compare his writings to those of the apologists, the more impressed I am with him. He doesn't have to stretch his facts to fit his thesis, whereas the LDS apologetics always seem very strained.

Couple of observations on reviews of Southerton's book that bear some comment:

1) A main criticism from LDS apologists of Southerton's book is they feel he has set up a straw man and doesn't address their Limited Geography Theory (LGT) and more specifically their ELGT (Extremely LGT...my new term), the one in which they posit Lehites immediately inter-marrying with their hypothetical "others" of Asian DNA, thus leaving no trace of Semitic DNA. This ELGT seems to be the last holdout of the apologists...a last ditch effort to obfuscate the church's unsupportable position. In reality, Southerton has not set up any straw man and he did a great job showing that in his book. Rather, it is the apologists who have set up a straw man and it's called the LGT. (The problem here is that arguing with a person over religious dogma is an exercise in futility since they will rarely concede a point to you even when you have long since objectively and solidly proven them wrong. They simply move or obfuscate the target so I feel Southerton's pain.)

Regardless, let's assume their beloved LGT for sake of argument since they seem to believe it saves them from the lack of DNA evidence supporting the Book of Mormon.

I maintain that it is actually their worst option because it doesn't really rescue them and all it really does is make their doctrine appear even more racist than the common Book of Mormon "dark skin is cursed" doctrine. Here's why:

If we assume the LGT model and accept the idea that the Lehites encountered "others" who were of Asian genetic background and with whom they intermarried, then we must accept the idea that the "curse" of the Lamanites is Asian genetics. Why? Because the church's leaders have consistently labeled Native Americans all over the continent as Lamanites and have ascribed their "dark" skin as the curse of their fathers. Since we now know these people are of Asian descent, the insult extends beyond just the Native Americans to all Asians. If this dark skin is the curse and they hypotheical Lehites and their descendants got the way they are by intermarrying with "the others", then the logical conclusion is that the Lamanite curse, according to Mormon apologist logic, is Asian DNA. As Southerton has stated before: 'The church has already insulted the Africans and the Native Americans, must it also insult the Asians.'

But that's not all...it gets worse. If both the Lamanites and Nephites intermarried with the "others" (as the Mopologists argue in a vain attempt to minimize Lehite DNA impact in America), then the Nephites would have also taken on the "curse" and gained the "dark and loathsome" skin color and genetic characteristics. Of course, this violates the Book of Mormon's own statements which say Nephites remained white.

So, either the Nephites intermarried with "others" and brought "the curse" upon their children, an idea impossible within Book of Mormon constraints, or they didn't intermarry and thus would have developed into a significantly large nation of Semitic DNA whose DNA signature would have certainly persisted to the present.

So, since Seminitc DNA is not present, the only argument left to Mopologists is that the Nephites took on the "curse" of Asian DNA through intermarriage.

Either way, they are in a box they have no way of obfuscating their way out of.

2) One reviewer, Track Mom, had several incorrect statements:

2a) In her second to last paragraph on DNA and neighboring tribes, she quotes an article at http://www.gene-watch.org/genewatch/articles/14-5nativeidentity.html as such: "One quote from this article says "Another issue is the widespread belief that genetics can help determine specific tribal affinities of either living or ancient people. This is quite simply false. Neighboring tribes have long-standing, complex relationships involving intermarriage, raiding, adoption, splitting, and joining. These social-historical forces insure that there cannot be any clear-cut genetic variants differentiating all the members of one tribe from those of nearby tribes. At most, slight differences in the proportions of certain genetic variations are identifiable in each group, but those do not permit specific individuals to be assigned to particular groups.""

Problem is that Trackmom misunderstood and misapplied the quote. It does not apply to Southerton's book. It refers to groups of people living side by side and interacting, not two groups developing for thousands of years separately. It also is merely stating the obvious, that a child of an inter-racial marriage cannot be assigned to only on of it's parents' races. The quote does not say that we can't determine the child has characteristics of each.

I'll simplify using an analogy. If I take one glass strawberry juice (SJ) and one glass banana juice (bj) and then mix part of them in a separate glass thoroughly, I'll get a juice mixture. True, it would be impossible to assign the mixture to only one of the two, either SJ or BJ. But that's not what Southerton's book is doing. Rather, he's saying the Native Americans are a totally different DNA than the Semitic people from which Lehi came and that DNA allows us to clearly see the difference.

So, let's say Semitic people are likened to Whole Milk (WM) and Skim Milk (SM), while Native Americans (who are of Asian descent) are SJ and BJ. Regardless of how much I mix SJ and BJ, I still know they are NOT milk of any variety or mixture. And if I pour some quantity of milk into a juice mix, the milk may not be visible to the eye, but a chemical analysis would reveal the milk in the juice (see Lemba tribe studies for DNA exmaple of this.)

2b) On her comment about the need to search for Lamanite DNA ANYWHERE on the continent, she's wrong. The study sampled DNA up and down the continent and covered the spectrum. No evidence of Semitic DNA has been found. Since the LDS prophets have claimed Lamanites to be all over the continent (in their revelations, books, conference statments, the Lamanite Program, temple dedications, even patriarchal blessings), we must expect to find Semitic DNA all over the place, but we do not. Minimally, LDS apologists have to admit that LDS leaders have spent nearly a couple of centuries making claims that seemed prophetic, but have turned out to be completely erroneous. From this, they must accept that the statements of LDS leaders are so fallible as to be frequently worthless or even dangerous.

But even giving apologists the benefit of the doubt on the LGT, we find the LGT is denied by the Book of Mormon itself:

a) The Book of Mormon in its sub-book, "The Book of Moroni", says Moroni stayed at the one hill Cumorah (in New York) and watched the final fighting. Specifically, it says he finished his writing on the plates and expected to perish by the Lamanites, but instead he wasn't killed. The implicit intent of this is to say, "I buried the plates thinking I'd never return and they'd stay buried until the latter days when some prophet would get them". He then wrote more stuff while watching his people get killed. This scripture proves he didn't start wandering from Mexico to New York as hypothesized by apologists. Moroni's character specifically said he intended to bury the plates on the hill where the wars took place, which according to Joseph Smith and other leaders, is in New York. Mopologists really should read their book better.

b) Joseph Smith and all other prophets said the Hill (including the battles) was in New York, and they specifically negated attempts to place it elsewhere (see comments from Joseph Fielding Smith and GBH's office). Their statements were directed at Mormon apologists who were inventing LGT ideas that placed Book of Mormon events somewhere besides in New York.

There really is no good option for the church on this issue. Whatever curse...er...course they choose, the leaders are shown to be prophetically wrong and the book is shown to be wrong. And the apologists are left flapping their gums in vain attempts to confuse members and shield them from the truth.

Please note the 3 star rating is an error. It should be a 5 STAR RATING, at least.

The author, Simon Southerton is a former Mormon Bishop who lives and works as a biochemist in Australia. His research in the field of DNA and genetics led him to the conclusion that, "The ancestors of Native Americans were Asians who unknowingly became the first Americans as they walked across Beringia,(the then land bridge between Alaska and Siberia), 14,000 years ago." These findings and research have been verified by numerous other scientists including some at the Mormon Church owned BYU, (Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah), comparing the DNA of hundreds of Asian and Native American tribes.

Two LDS biologists, Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent Stephens gave the most objective summary of New World DNA research to date, informing LDS readers that 99.6 percent of Native Americans appear to have descended from Asian ancestors.

This of course flies in the face of Mormon claims that Native Americans are descendents of a very small group of Jews who left Jerusalem 600 years BC and sailed by boat thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, and who in only 1000 years then multiplied and spread the entire length and breadth of North and South America.

According to the Mormon Church account these Israelite immigrants from Jerusalem wrote their history on golden plates which were subsequently translated in the early 1800's by their first prophet Joseph Smith into what has become known as the Book of Mormon.

Simon Southerton clarifies the often cloudy waters that lie between the Mormon religious claims on the origin of Native Americans and objective scientific findings. He presents a solid case for the science-based perpective on the origins of American and Polynesian native peoples, while acknowledging the difficulties that such a perspective might cause for the Mormon Church.

I would highly recommend this book for any Mormon or non-Mormon who has an honest inquiring mind. I would place my money on the objective scientific findings of fact contained in this book and it's conclusions using DNA analysis rather than the unsubstantiated religious claims of the LDS Church and the Book of Mormon.

Orthodox Mormons and pseudo-intellectual apologists have freaked out over this one. Whether you are in, out, or fluctuating in the Mormon chuch, this book is a must read. Southerton is able to break down very complicated genetic issues and present them in plain, readable English. His book presents the crossroads at which the LDS church finds itself; in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, the validity of LDS scripture is questioned. While Joseph Smith made it clear that his vision of the Book of Mormon included a New World that was recently populated entirely by people of Hebrew stock, archaeology and genetics does not agree. Mormon apologists now adhere to what they call a "limited Book of Mormon geography," meaning that only a small number of Hebrews ever lived in the Americas. The problem with this view, though, is that to adhere to it, you have to throw out numerous statements made by Joseph Smith-- refuting his prophetic abilities in order to affirm them. This is a superb exploration of the theological consequences of the LDS hierarchy adhering to the strictly literalist scriptural interpretation that Mormons have clung to for so long.

Southerton does a stellar job of nailing down a moving target. This book was originally titled "Losing a Lost Race," but Signature thought that too controversial.

One thing that delayed the publication was that FARMS so-called researchers, an ill-considered lot, dumped some 300 pages of essays attempting to rebut Book of Mormon DNA studies. Call it a pre-emptive rebuttal of Southerton's work. It took poor Simon a while to wade through all of that.

The delay was worth the wait, because the LDS hierarchy is stuck between a rock and a hardplace.

Do they hew to the old racist and global colonization themes implied in the Book of Mormon narrative?

Or do they embrace some truly bizarre theories that the handwringing FARMERS concoct in order for the Book of Mormon to be something more than a 19th Century work of inspired fiction?

If you want to see both sides of the dilemma clearly mapped out, read Southerton's excellent book.

The DNA research in regards to LDS racial teachings has to really be causing a quandary within the church "think-tank". (i.e. - apologists, historians, scientists, etc...) It puts them in the unenviable position of choosing to either: 1. Back off the many past and present statements made by prophets and apostles stating that Native Americans are indeed truly descendants of Israel and embracing this research... or 2. Sticking with the "prophets are the mouth-piece of God" mentality and dismissing this scientific proof. Quite the conundrum, I would say. Which way will it go?
Myself, I think a few brave mormon "intellectuals" will choose the former, but without question most rank and file members will perform the mental gymnastics necessary to rationalize, justify and trivialize this damaging research and choose the latter.
Great book. Well written.