DNA, Doctrine, and the Disappearing Descendants
Of all the claims made in the Book of Mormon, few are as "central" and now as embarrassing as the idea that Native Americans are descendants of a cursed group of people called the Lamanites. This teaching isn't some symbolic metaphor or a side note of the book. It has been woven into the Book of Mormon's entire narrative arc, repeated by LDS prophets for over a century, and printed in every copy of the Book of Mormon for decades. And then, science happened. DNA happened. And suddenly, the Lamanite lie started disappearing.
What the Book of Mormon Teaches
According to the Book of Mormon, a small group of Jews left Jerusalem around 600 BC and sailed to the Americas. Among them were Nephi, who was righteous, white, and light-skinned, and Laman, who was rebellious, dark-skinned, and cursed. Over time, the Lamanites became the enemies of the Nephites, and eventually, the Nephites were wiped out, which left the Lamanites as the surviving ancestors of the peoples of the Americas.
"After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians."
— Book of Mormon Introduction (1981–2007)
"And this was because of their iniquity; and their skin became dark, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God."
— 2 Nephi 5:21
Yes, the Book of Mormon literally teaches that God cursed people with dark skin for disobedience. Don't worry, I'll come back to that.
The DNA Bombshell
In the early 2000s, genetic studies began mapping the origins of indigenous peoples across the globe, including Native Americans. The results? Zero Middle Eastern ancestry. Instead, Native Americans overwhelmingly descend from East Asian and Siberian populations, migrating to the Americas across the Bering Strait thousands of years before Book of Mormon times. Here's what the data says:
No Semitic haplogroups (like J or E) have been found in Native American lineages.
The dominant haplogroups are A, B, C, D, and X, all consistent with Asian ancestry, not Hebrew.
Even ancient remains from thousands of years ago match modern indigenous DNA. No sudden "Hebrew" input ever shows up.
So... where are the Lamanites?
Apologist Excuses (And Why They Fail)
Once the science became undeniable, Mormon apologists scrambled to reframe the doctrine.
Excuse 1: "They Were a Small Group That Got Absorbed"
The idea here is that Nephi's party intermarried with a large native population, and their genetic signature was diluted.
Why this fails:
The Book of Mormon never mentions any pre-existing populations. It treats Nephi's group as the founders of the entire civilization. Massive wars, cities, and population counts suggest they were not just a minority. Even if intermarriage happened, we'd expect some Semitic trace to survive in isolated tribes. None has.
Excuse 2: "DNA Is Unreliable for Ancient Populations"
They claim mutations and migration patterns make it impossible to "see" Lamanite DNA.
Why this fails:
We can still find Neanderthal DNA in modern humans from 40,000+ years ago. But we can't find Hebrew DNA from 2,600 years ago? Strange. Need I say more?
Excuse 3: "The Book of Mormon Doesn't Say 'Principal Ancestors'"
This is the "blame Bruce R. McConkie" argument. The LDS Church changed the Book of Mormon introduction in 2007 to say that Lamanites are "among the ancestors" of Native Americans.
Why this fails:
The "principal ancestors" line was in every Book of Mormon from 1981 to 2007. It was official. It was church-approved. It was taught in lesson manuals, conference talks, and seminary. The change only came after DNA evidence disproved the original claim. That's no revelation. That's a sneaky, cheeky rewrite.
Let's be clear here, this wasn't just one mistaken statement. This was core LDS doctrine.
"The Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians."
— Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 315
"The Lamanites, now a down-trodden people, are the principal ancestors of the American Indians."
— LDS Introduction to the Book of Mormon, 1981–2007
"These (Indians) are the descendants of Lehi."
— Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Report, Oct. 1975
So when Mormons say, "We never claimed they were the primary ancestors," you can simply reply:
"Yes you did, until the science embarrassed you."
Let's Talk About the Skin Color Doctrine
The Book of Mormon explicitly connects dark skin with divine cursing, here are some examples:
"...and the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them."
— 2 Nephi 5:21
"...white and exceedingly fair and delightsome."
— 2 Nephi 30:6 (before the 1981 edit changed it from "white" to "pure")
This racist theology was reinforced for over a century with teachings like:
Lamanites turning white when they accepted the gospel
Dark skin being a mark of disobedience
White skin being a sign of righteousness
Today, the LDS Church avoids these verses like the plague, but they're still in the scriptures. And even worse? They were used to justify real-world policies, like barring Black men from the priesthood until 1978.
Biblical Standard: God's Covenant People and Real Genealogy
The Bible is filled with actual genealogy and geography. Israelites can be traced through tribal lineages, historical records, verified locations like Jerusalem, Jericho, and Babylon, and nowhere, nowhere, does the Bible teach that dark skin is a divine curse.
"From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth."
— Acts 17:26
"God shows no partiality."
— Romans 2:11
"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
— 1 Samuel 16:7
The Disappearing Lamanites
Once known as God's covenant people, the Lamanites have been edited, reworded, and quietly buried by the very church that claimed to restore their history. If the Book of Mormon were true, DNA would confirm it, but instead, it's the Lamanites that went missing, not the evidence. The Church didn't receive a revelation. They received a scientific embarrassment. And now they're rewriting their doctrine to match reality.