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

By Simon G. Southerton

Book Overview

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).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560851813
• ISBN13: 9781560851813
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Signature Books, LLC
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Native American DNA truth!

The primary original primary aim from Mormon Church is to prove that Native Americans were the lost tribe of the Old Testament. Where did they come from as no fossils of skeleton were found in the tree of evolution. They developed ancient cultures in Turtle Island thousands years ago before Columbus. DNA told the truth that they came from Asia and had their unique culture and heritage. But it is being wiped out after Manifest Destiny with germ genocide. The DNA truth finding made the author leave the LDS church. The truth will set you free!

Well Written and Thought Provoking

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)?

A book well worth reading

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.

Losing a Lost Tribe

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

Nails a moving target

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.

Simon knows his stuff

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.