Cherokee Zoramites

Cherokee Zoramites

In doing research on Native American culture and tradition it has become quite apparent to me that the Cherokee Native Americans are the Zoramites listed in the Book of Mormon for several reasons that will be listed in this post.

It became apparent that a Greek influence was found among Native Americans but was strongest among the Cherokee tribe. At first I struggled to find the source of the influence. But as one who enjoys doing research on the Book of Mormon both critical and supportive. I came across a critic of the Book of Mormon in which we began a dialogue of Book of Mormon criticisms and evidences. One of the criticisms he brought up is that the Book of Mormon has Greek words in it. The theory behind that being that the Book of Mormon being of Hebrew origin should not have Greek vocabulary in it. I can understand that reasoning but having recently done research on a Native American Greek ties I was very interested in researching the evidence being presented. I immediately corresponded back to him to find out the source of this critique. From there I found a legitimate complaint the Book of Mormon does have Greek words of origin in it and from there it became only natural to tie the origins of Greek influences to the Book of Mormon and one Book of Mormon historical figure in particular, Zoram.

Zoram was the servant Laban brought out of Jerusalem to the promise land who was faithful to Nephi and Lehi. When Laman and Lemuel were rebellious and separated ties with Nephi Zoram stayed with Nephi to Journey out to the Land of Nephi and he and family were considered Nephites although his clan were distinguished as being Zoramites.

Zoram is of possible ancient Greek descent. Greek and Hebrew are inextricably tied together both are believed to originated from the Phoenician language.

Listed are Book of Mormon words that are stated as Greek in origin by Richard Packham.

The word 'mormo' or 'mormon' can be found in any dictionary of classical Greek.

“Antipas – name of a general in the BoM (Alma 56); name of a mountain in the BoM (Alma 47:7, 10); It is a Greek name, an abbreviation for ‘Antipater.’

Archeantus – Nephite commander (Moroni 9:2); a typical Greek formation, made using the Greek prefix ‘arch-‘ (“great, chief”), as in the Biblical Greek names Archelaus and Archippus.

Judea – the name of a Nephite city (Alma 56, 57); it is the Greek (i.e., New Testament) form of the Hebrew name ‘Judah,’ referring to the tribe, the Southern Kingdom, and the area of southern Palestine occupied by the tribe of Judah (the Jews).

Angola – city name at Mormon 2:4 – Greek ‘angelos’, meaning ’angel’”

Zenos - Hebrew prophet, mentioned several times in the Book of Mormon, but unknown in the Old Testament; the name is Greek, either in the form 'Zeno' (the name of a Greek philosopher, 5th century B.C.) or 'Zenas,' in the New Testament at Titus 3:13.

Native American examples of tribes using Greek words are listed.

Silas T Rand knew several languages to include Hebrew and Greek concerning Micmac Indians:

“There are also some words in the language which resemble Greek. The Micmac word Ellenu, an Indian, is not very different from Hellene, a Greek. Ellenu esit (“He speaks Micmac”) is strikingly like the Greek, Hellenize (“He speaks Greek”). But in other respects the language resembles the Hebrew, especially in the suffixes by which the pronouns are connected in the accusative case with the verb.”
(Silas T Rand 1893)

“Their languages are very diverse and differs as much from one another as Dutch, French, Greek and Latin. Declension and conjugation resemble those in Greek, for they, like the Greeks, Have duals in their nouns and even augments in their verbs.”
(In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives About a Native People)

Gaspesian/Micmac Indians:

“Our Indians agree with the Greeks and Latins in this, that they use always the singular, and almost never, or at least very rarely, the plural, even when they speak to their missionaries, or to some other person of prominence. They express themselves by the word kir^ which means “thou,” whether it is the child speaking to its father, the wife to her husband, or the husband to his wife.”
(Clercq 1680 pg. 141)

The ties are not just limited to language but to artifacts. The Greek style cross is dated well before Lehi arrival to the promise land. The Greek style cross is a fairly universal symbol but what stands out besides appearance is that both cultures considered this symbol to sacred to each culture.

From Dr. Yates book Old World Roots of the Cherokee.

1600 BC marble sacral cross from the Temple Repositories of Knossos. (Heraclion Archaeological Museum, Greece):

Coptic Cross used in the Middle East Earlier Greek Cross:

The remains of a Hopewell Indian Greek-style Cross:

Pre-Columbian Mississippian artifacts of Greek-style Crosses:

The artifact on the right is a Greek style gorget that would be worn as a necklace.

Pictured is a pre-Columbian depiction of a religious ceremony. The Greek style cross is on the clothing of the participants. The symbol on the right is the Native American tribe Mik Mac symbol for holy.

Other related symbol is the swastika used by both the Hopewell and Greeks.

Hopewell Indian 200BC swastika Artifact            Greek vase                                Greek Vase

Another point to be made is that Cherokee traditionally have a lighter skin color than most some other native American tribes.  This has been noted throughout the centuries by historians and explorers. This is due to the high concentration of the one the founding native American dna markers. This dna marker is a Caucasian dna marker. In two painting placed side by side for comparison you can see the contrast in shades of skin color. Paintings by George catlin in 1830.

http://bookofmormonevidence.blogspot.com/2016/09/dna-evidence-of-white-race-of-indian_12.html

The idea that the Zoramites are the Cherokee Indians is supported much by the research of Dr Donald N Yates in his book entitled the Old World Roots of the Cherokees.


Quoting directly from Dr Yates book.

“We pose this question because of another enigma, the Possum Creek Stone. "It was first reported to me in January 1975," writes Gloria Farley, "by Elaine Flud and her friend Jeanna James, who had slipped and fallen over it near the creek bed. It lay at the edge of the old main channel of Possum Creek, a tributary to Brazeal Creek, the Poteau River and the Arkansas River, near the town of Calhoun. The exact location was 200 yards to the NW of the center of the SW quarter of Section 5, Township 7 North, Range 24 East, Le Flore County, Oklahoma." She adds, "The Possum sum Creek stone is pecked with four eroded symbols, 3% to 6 inches tall. They are in a straight line and have mostly curved lines, which is not typical of most inscriptions. The flat stone measures 5 feet long, 30 inches wide, about 5 inches thick, and weighs about 300 pounds.1112

Gloria shared her discovery with Barry Fell of Harvard University. versity. Fell agreed that the writing ing was Cherokee and classified it with other ancient East Mediterranean syllabaries like Linear A and Linear B and certain tain Cypriot scripts. He read the inscription as saying, "Place of Invocation"-an inspired guess, as it turns out.13 "The discovery of a carved stone in my own Le Flore County, Oklahoma," writes Farley in volume two of In Plain Sight, "led me to an in-depth study of Sequoyah, the Cherokee genius, who is believed by most people to have invented the Cherokee syllabary." She goes on to investigate the historical figure known as Sequoyah and conclude that he was really a fictitious person to whom a pre-existing writing system was conveniently, and politically, attributed." She stops at transliterating the inscription or translating it. That is done for the first time by me in this book.' The stone is in the collection of the Robert S. Kerr Museum in Poteau, Oklahoma. The four letters etched in relief on this monumental inscription are, as Farley and Fell recognize, identical to Sequoyah's syllabary. Farley reads SO-NI-WI-SA,16 and Brian Wilkes, a Cherokee language expert, KE-NI-WI-SA (or HO-NI-KA-SA or LUN-NI-O-SA)." None of these readings makes any sense in the Cherokee language. If we read the inscription as Greek, however,

it clearly says HO-NI-KA-SA, or IhOU, or 'o vtxa6a,(Greek letters did not transfer over) i.e., "This is the one who has taken the prize of victory." This is a common formula for the inscription on a dais upon which victors are crowned at ancient games. The use is Homeric, although the spelling is Doric, not Ionic, the main dialect found in Homer. The proportions, size and type of inscription of the Possum Creek Stone approximate those of a number of ancient Greek victory altars or victors' pedestals. A good example of one in Greece's National Archeological Museum comes from Athens and dates to the 5th century B.C.E.'”

Marked Rock

“Part of the Red Bird rock-art group called Marked Rock has been preserved in Rawlings-Stinson City Park in Manchester since 1994, when a 60-ton chunk of sandstone cliff collapsed on the hillside and fell onto Kentucky State Highway 66. While in place, it was listed as #89001183 on the National Register of Historic Places and marked with a plaque by the Kentucky Historical Society. There are allegedly inscriptions in Old Arabic, or South Semitic,' and ogam' covering it and scattered elsewhere in the area, in our cave in particular. The Red Bird Petroglyphs lie on the ancient, heavily-traveled Great Warrior Path of the Cherokee that is an extension of the Natchez Trace and Avery Trace in Tennessee running north up the Appalachian mountain chain to the lands of the Iroquois. It was a heavily-trafficked trafficked spot. A local resident calls our cave entrance inscription (fig. 10.1) Christian Monogram #2 and dates it to the 1st to 2nd century C.E. He reads, in Greek letters: 6t0-111poc ujcovs vtos iou Ocou ira'rilp [sic] xat [sic], and translates: The Saviour, Jesus, Son of God the Father, lives.9 Though this reading is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons, the language may have been correctly identified. We

have sent it round and received several expert opinions. It "could very well indeed be Greek," writes Klaus Hallof, who heads a project of the Berlin Academy of Sciences to publish all the inscriptions of ancient Greece. "We think we can discern the word TOPOS. That suits the context extremely well in that it means, `This is the place of....' It would be expected that there would also be a name above TOPOS in the genitive case. TOPOS inscriptions are a widespread occurrence in Greek epigraphy. According ing to the letter forms (sigma has the form [)) the inscription belongs in high or late Augustan tan times, i.e. 2nd-3rd century after Christ."" Many people miss the fact that there are two inscriptions here, not just one. The top line is of one age and character -Greek, not Cherokee -and the bottom line is of an older age and different alphabet, unquestionably Semitic. “

The Cherokee influence is not all Greek. Just like the Nez Pierce tribe have an Assyrian influence so do the Cherokee. There is evidence showing Cherokee also worshiped the old world Sumerian gods and goddesses Nanna.

http://bookofmormonevidence.blogspot.com/2016/09/best-book-of-mormon-dna-evidence-x2aj.html

The common people call both Sun and Moon Nunda, one being "Nunda that dwells in the day" and the other "Nunda that dwells in the night," (Mooney)

Phonetically Nunda has a resemblance to the Crescent Moon god Nanna. A coincidence, given all the examples provided I personally think not.

I believe an in-depth study of Native American worship of the sun and moon will reveal itself in  Sumerian and Assyrian worship of the same.

I believe the Cherokees are the Greeks is that using the Book of Mormon six sea geography model I have been able to fairly easily and consistently place many of the major Book of Mormon lands. The area that Antionum is placed which is a Zoramite land is Ohio. The Zoramites rebel and Amilci leads the Zoramites to fight against the Nephites but have to retreat to an area south of Manti according to the six sea model Missouri region. At one point in time the Zoramites and Amalicites are surrounded and have a choice to make an oath of peace with Moroni or be killed. Some of the Amalicites and Zoramites make this oath of peace and this I believe establishes the Cherokee nation in which is now their traditional lands in the south region of the United States after they left Antionum or Ohio region. According to tradition the Cherokee were once established in Ohio and the Great Lakes region.

http://bookofmormonevidence.blogspot.com/2016/09/alma-chapter-43-bom-map.html

“The Iroquoian stock, to which the Cherokee belong, had its chief home in the north, its tribes occupying a compact territory which comprised portions of Ontario, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and extended down the Susquehanna and Chesapeake bay…” (Mooney)

Hopewell Smelting

Smelting

Archeologist have not confirmed smelting by Hopewell Indians they have only speculated. Early settlers found ancient Indian furnaces and iron swords and tools that could have only been made by smelting. The Hopewell Mann site has given anthropologist another look of ancient smelting. The furnaces that anthropologist have found are believed to have been tampered with. It is no doubt the Hopewell and Adena Indians were excellent metal smiths  to include the use meteoric iron, copper, silver and gold. Its also a known fact that the Hopewell used high heat to manipulated metal into tools and weapons. The metalsmith were so skilled that modern scientist cannot reproduce the copper breastplates even modern presses without smelting. The idea that Hopewell used rivets to make large breastplates has been unproven only speculated. I believe that smelting is the only answer to account for the large breastplates and excellent craftsmanship of many of the meteoric iron and plates of copper.

"The researchers also tested theories that some archeologists had made about the coppersmiths’ techniques. One idea was that they made large copper pieces, like ceremonial breastplates, by “laminating” sheets of copper together through a hammering technique. Deymier-Black said that the lamination could not be reproduced, even with much greater weights achievable with a modern press."


“That may be answered in the last, and perhaps the most remarkable discovery at Mann. Linderman says scientists are starting tests on what appears to be evidence of lead smelting. The practice of melting metals at a very high temperature is just one of the many questions archaeologists will be confronting.”

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/03/132412112/the-prehistoric-treasure-in-the-fields-of-indiana

Early settlers found Hopewell furnaces and smith shops.

(In reference to Hopewell ruins)

“There appears to have been a row of furnaces or smiths’ shops, where the cinders now lie many feet in depth. The remains are four or five feet in depth even now in many places.”
(Haywood 1823 pg. 349)

Arlington Mallery excavated a long tube of iron slag from an Adena site in the Ohio Valley.

Hopewell meteoric iron axes and tools

                                                 Hopewell Meteoric Iron Axes and Tools

The Hopewell Indians (Nephites) were excellent metal smiths using copper and other natural metallic minerals to makes weapons and tools. To see examples of copper breastplates and Jewelry see link.
http://bookofmormonevidence.blogspot.com/2016/09/book-of-mormon-breastplates-and-jewelry.html

The Hopewell were excellent metalsmith in the use of iron.

"In addition, Hopewell artisans used the iron to craft a number of apparently utilitarian objects, including adzes, axes, awls, celts, chisels, and drills. Since these were made from such an extraordinary raw material..."

For the Hopewell to take a chunk of Iron and fashion a iron ax head out of it  shows just how skilled they were in the use of all types metals.

http://apps.ohiohistory.org/ohioarchaeology/hopewell-use-of-meteoritic-iron/

Archeological Evidence of the West Sea Fortified Line

Archeological Evidence of the West Sea Fortified Line

The Nephites were under constant attack from the Lamanite particularly by the West Sea. To fortify against these attacks a fortified line needed to be built

The fortified line described in the Book of Helaman is near Bountiful and extended from the West Sea going east. I believe the following account is archeological evidence of this fortified line. The Book of Mormon and historical account describes it in a southeast direction. Generally speaking the Nephites had this line extend from Lake Michigan shoreline going east. It veered toward a south east direction. Compare the Book of Mormon account with the historical account.

 

Helaman 4:7

 7 And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea(LAKE MICHIGAN), even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.
 

An example of the Lamanites attacking from the south of the west sea is shown in Alma 53:8. For a better understanding of that chapter see mapped Alma chapter 53 link .

http://bookofmormonevidence.blogspot.com/2016/09/archeological-evidence-of-fortified.html

8 And now it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites, on the west sea(Lake Michigan), south, while in the absence of Moroni on account of some intrigue amongst the Nephites, which caused dissensions amongst them, had gained some ground over the Nephites, yea, insomuch that they had obtained possession of a number of their cities in that part of the land.

Historical account:

“Remains of fortifications also exist in Michigan as the following account taken from the Buffalo Pilot reveals: “...in the town adjoining Cooper, county of Megan, Michigan, about a mile distant from the fertile banks of the Kalamazoo, is a small hamlet, commonly known as Arnold’s Station. The first settlers of this little place, emigrants from the St. Joseph country, found In the township some extensive ruins of what had evidently been the work of human ingenuity, and which they christened the Military Post. “It consists,” says the writer, “of a wall of earth, running north west and southeast, being about the height of a man’s head In the principal part of Its length, but varying in some places, as if It had been degraded, either by the hands of assailants or the lapse of time... .“

 

If the neighboring Indians are questioned upon its traditional history, the invariable answer is, that it was there when they came-- more, they either do not or can not say. That It was the labor of an extinct race is pretty evident, and it probably dates from the same era with the extensive works at Rock River. These latter are, however, of brick, a specimen of which material, taken from beneath the roots of an oak tree of great size, the writer has in his possession. (Quoted in Times and Seasons, Vol. 6, p. 906.”

My understanding is the fortified line no longer exist being destroyed by settlers during the establishment of the city of Kalamazoo.
The fortified line on the map is not drawn to scale. Kalamazoo is approximately 30 miles from the Michigan Lake shoreline

(Glenn Chapman helped in the compilation of sources)

The extermination of a European/Middle East Indian Civilization

The Nephites and their Extermination

One of the founding Native American DNA markers is a rare Caucasian dna marker found only in North American Indians. As to why this dna Marker is rare is best explained by Native American traditional legends and the Book of Mormon. This this light skinned race of Indian was exterminated  leaving behind only a rare footprint on the North American continent.

http://bookofmormonevidence.blogspot.com/2016/09/dna-evidence-of-white-race-of-indian_12.html

Concerning Hattera Indians of North Carolina:

“These Hattera tell us, that several of their Ancestors were white People, and could talk in a Book, as we do; the Truth of which is confirmed by gray eyes being found frequently amongst these Indians, and no others.”
(John Lawson 1709 pg. 62)

The Nephites who I believe had Caucasian DNA were killed off by the Lamanites. The North American Indians have a legend of a foreign white race being completely killed or removed from certain areas.

“There is a dim but persistent tradition of a strange white race preceding the Cherokee, some of the stories even going so far as to locate their former settlements and to identify them as the authors of the ancient works found in the country. The earliest reference appears to be that of Barton in 1797, on the statement of a gentleman whom he quotes as a valuable authority upon the southern tribes. “The Cherokee tell us, that when they first arrived in the country which they inhabit, they found it possessed by certain ‘moon-eyed people,’ who could not see in the day-time. These wretches they expelled.” He seems to consider them an albino race.* Haywood, twenty-six years later, says that the invading Cherokee found “white people” near the head of the Little Tennessee, with forts extending thence down the Tennessee as far as Chickamauga creek. He gives the location of three of these forts. The Cherokee made war against them and drove them to the mouth of Big Chickamauga creek, where they entered into a treaty and agreed to remove if permitted to depart in peace. Permission being granted, they abandoned the country. Elsewhere he speaks of this extirpated white race as having extended into Kentucky and probably also into western Tennessee, according to the concurrent traditions of different tribes.”
(Mooney 1902 pg. 22)

Captain Brant Thayendanegea was a well-known Iroquois and Mohawk leader and Chief who sided with the British during the Revolutionary war. He was born of Iroquois parents who converted to Christianity. They gave him a Christian name Joseph Brant. The quote is from his biography:

“I was curious to learn in the course of my conversations with Captain Brant (Thayendanegea Mohawk/Iroquois Chief), what information he could give me respecting the tumuli (mounds) which are found on and near the margin of the rivers and lakes, from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. He stated, in reply, that the subject had long been agitated, but yet remained in some obscurity. A tradition, he said, prevailed among the different nations of Indians through-out that whole extensive range of country, and had been handed down time immemorial, that in an age long gone by, there came white men from a foreign country, and by consent of the Indians established trading-houses and settlements where these tumuli (mounds) are found. A friendly intercourse was continued for several years; many of the white men brought their wives, and had children born to them; and additions to their numbers were made yearly from their own country. These circumstances at length gave rise to jealousies among the Indians, and fears began to be entertained in regard to the increasing numbers, wealth, and ulterior views of the new comers; apprehending that becoming strong, they might one day seize upon the country as their own. A secret council, composed of the chiefs of all the different nations from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, was therefore convoked; the result of which, after long deliberation, was a resolution that on a certain night designated for that purpose, all their white neighbors, men, women and children, should be exterminated.“
(Stone 1838 pg. 484)

“Here the Indians tell us there was a war in early times, against an Indian town, traces of which are yet visible, corn pits, etc. This was inhabited by a distinct nation, neither Iroquois nor Delawares, who spoke a peculiar language, and were called Tehotitachse, against them the Five Nations warred and routed them out; the Cayugas for a time held a number captive, but the nation and the language are now exterminated and extinct.”
(Murray 1908 pg. 46)

Natchez Indians of Mississippi, in reference to an ancient race of Indian who preceded them and eventually were defeated:

“I did not fail to ask him who these warriors of fire were. “They were,” said he, “bearded men, white but swarthy… They had come on floating villages from the side where the sun rises. They conquered the ancients of the country, of whom they killed as many as there are spears of grass in the Prairies, and in the beginning they were good friends of our brothers, but ultimately they made them submit as well as the ancients of the country, as our Suns (leaders) had foreseen and had foretold to them.””
(Swanton 1909 pg. 184)

“Did not these skeletons belong to persons of the same race with those white people, who were extirpated in part, and in part driven from Kentucky, and probably also from West Tennessee, as Indian tradition reports?”
(Haywood 1823 pg. 166)

“An old Indian, in conversation with Colonel James F. Moore, of Kentucky, informed him that the western country, and particularly Kentucky, had once been inhabited by white people, but that they were exterminated by the Indians. That the last battle was fought at the falls of Ohio, and that the Indians succeeded in driving the Aborigines into a small island below the rapids, where the whole of them were cut to pieces.”
(M.H. Frost 1819; On the aborigines of the Western Countries)

“Mr. Thomas Bodley was informed by Indians of different tribes northwest of the Ohio, that they had understood from their old men, and that it had been a tradition among their several nations, that Kentucky had been settled by whites, and that they had been exterminated by war. They were of opinion that the old fortifications, now to be seen in Kentucky and Ohio, were the productions of those white inhabitants. Wappockanitta, a Shawnee chief, near a hundred and twenty years old, living on the Auglaze River, confirmed the above tradition.”
(M.H. Frost 1819; On the aborigines of the Western Countries)

DNA Evidence of A European/Middle East race of Indian

Light Skinned North American Indians

Since traditional Jews are known to be Caucasian or of lighter skin color. It’s not hard to fathom that the Tribe of Manasseh, the tribe Lehi descended from, also would have Caucasian or lighter skin color. Haplogroup X found in North American Indians is considered to be a Caucasian DNA marker. Other North, Central, and South American Indians show the Haplogroups A, B, C, and D, which came from migrating Asian ethnic tribes of that period, with which Laman’s seed would have likely intermarried.

The Nephites became Lamanites and Lamanites became Nephites suggesting different shades in skin color as the Book of Mormon states.

Genetic evidence supports the Book of Mormon narrative.

“A recent survey of European mtDNA has demonstrated the presence of the same “other” haplotype motif in modern European populations, in which it is called “Haplogroup X.””
(MtDNA haplogroup X: An Ancient Link between Europe/Western Asia and North America?)

“To date, haplogroup X has not been unambiguously identified in Asia, raising the possibility that some Native American founders were of Caucasian ancestry.”
(MtDNA haplogroup X: An Ancient Link between Europe/Western Asia and North America?)

Nearly one-third of Native American genes come from west Eurasian peoples with ties to the Middle East and Europe
(National Geographic “Great Surprise”—Native Americans Have West Eurasian Origins”)

On the basis of genetic analysis of some serum and red-cell protein polymorphisms, Szathmary and Reed (1972) and Szathmary et al. (1974) were able to reveal the presence of "Caucasian" alleles in the southeastern Ojibwa and to give an estimate of Caucasian admixture of -30%; however, more recent data on other autosomal locus polymorphisms indicate that the genetic admixture may be as great as 50%.

(mtDNA and Y Chromosome-Specific Polymorphisms in Modern Ojibwa: Implications about the Origin of Their Gene Pool)

William Penn wrote the following to a friend in England. “I found them [the Indians of the eastern shore of North America] with like countenances with the Hebrew race; and their children of so lively a resemblance to them that a man would think himself in Duke’s place, or Barry Street, in London, when he sees them.”
(Murray 1908)

“The Cherokee are of a lighter color than the greater number of the North American Indians that are known to me.”
(Barton 1798 pg. XIV)

“They (Algonquin Indians) have the same complexion as the French”
(Jouvency 1710)

About Gaspesian/Micmac Indians

“Although children are born among them with hair of different colours, as in Europe.”
(Clercq 1680 pg. 237)

“The hue or color of their bodies is generally not as white as ours though some quite fair skinned ones are to be found and most are born white.”
(In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives about a Native People, by Dean R. Snow, Charles T. Gehring, William A. Starna)

The Amlicites were Nephites who wanted to be ruled by a king instead of appointed judges. These Nephites rebelled and in their rebellion joined the Lamanites.  The seed of Laman on their arrival in the new world most intermarried with the indigenous Asian ethnic tribes of their day. So the Amlicites looked like Nephites instead of Lamanites. So in order for the Amlicites to distinguish themselves from the Nephites they marked their foreheads with red paint. The Cherokee Indians are excellent candidates to be the Zoramites/Amlicites. From historical accounts to the current day many Cherokee have haplo group x features and skin color.

Alma 3:4 – And the Amlicites were distinguished from the Nephites, for they had marked themselves with red in their foreheads after the manner of the Lamanites.

The fact that haplo group x is a rare genetic marker supports the Book of Mormon narrative so are native American traditions of killing off a caucasian race of Indian.

The haplogroup x Caucasian dna marker might be presented in several George Caitlyn Native American portraits. This is assuming that the Native American chiefs and individuals have no European admixture of the 18^th and 19^th century when the portrait was painted in the 19^th century.

George Caitlin painted several Native American portraits to include these eight portraits shown below.

        

Hill Cumorah Mass Burial Pits and Battlegrounds

Hill Cumorah

 

At the final battles at the Hill Cumorah, nearly a quarter of a million Nephites were slaughtered. An untold number of Lamanites were also killed. Indian legend supports this great and terrible battle that caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people.

 

Thayendanegea Mohawk/Iroquois Chief:

 

“From the earliest knowledge the white men have possessed of the country of western New York, the Painted Post has been noted as a geographical landmark. When first traversed by the white men, a large oaken post stood at the spot, which has retained the name to this day. It was painted in the Indian manner, and was guarded as a monument by the Indiana, who renewed it as often as it showed evidence of going to decay. Tradition says it was a monument of great antiquity, marking the spot of a great and bloody battle, according to some statements. According to others, it was erected to perpetuate the memory of some great war-chief.” (My opinion is the great Chief is Mormon I can’t prove it though) (Painted Post, New York is located about 70 miles away from Hill Cumorah) (Stone 1838 pg. 318)

 

In reference to Buffalo, New York in close proximity to what is the narrow neck of land and the Hill Cumorah:

 

“Tradition fixes upon this spot as the scene of the final and most bloody conflict between the Iroquois and the ”Gah-kwas” or Eries, — a tradition which has been supposed to derive some sanction from the number of fragments of decayed human bones which are scattered over the area.” (Squier 1849)

 

Mass Burial Pits and Battlegrounds

Two thirds of the Book of Mormon is about wars between the Lamanites and Nephites. Large bone pits and piles were found in the state of New York and other states. These large bone pits are supportive evidence of the battles that took place between Nephites and Lamanites. In the last battles Mormon states that bodies of the Nephites were heaped into piles (Mormon 2:15).

  New York State:

“It was called the “Bone Fort,” from the circumstance that the early settlers found within it a mound, six feet in height by thirty at the base, which was entirely made up of human bones slightly covered with earth… The popular opinion concerning this accumulation is, that it contained the bones of the slain, thus heaped together after some severe battle.” (Squier 1849)

  Kentucky:

  “Half a mile from this place, at the foot of the mountain, in a large cave full of human bones, perhaps several wagon loads; some of which are small, and others very large” (Haywood 1823 pg. 153)

  New York State:

  “The bones were of individuals of both sexes and of all ages. Among them were a few fetal bones. Many of the skulls bore marks of violence, leading to the belief that they were broken before burial.” (Squier 1849)

Illinois:

“Mr. Ramey, the owner of the mound, speaks about digging in one part of the field and finding heaps of bones eight feet deep, and says that the bones are everywhere present.” (Peet 1892 pg. 163) New York State: “Human bones have been discovered beneath the leaves; and in nearly every part of the trench skeletons of adults of both sexes, of children, and infants, have been found, covered only by the vegetable accumulations. They seem to have been thrown together promiscuously.” (Squier 1849) New York State: “Among them may be mentioned the “bone-pits,” or deposits of human bones. One is found near the village of Brownsville, on Black River. It is described as a pit, ten or twelve feet square, by perhaps four feet deep, in which are promiscuously heaped together a large number of human skeletons.” (Squier 1849)

Reformed Egyptian Four Surviving Characters

Reformed Egyptian

In 1680 Father Chretian Le Clercq a Roman Catholic missionary lived among the Micmac Indians for twelve years. After spending this time with the Micmac, he then sailed back to France and wrote a book about the customs and religion of the Micmac Indians.

He helped the Micmac Indians develop a written language composed of Hieroglyphs some of which are Egyptian hieroglyphs. In doing this he most likely used the characters that the Micmac Indians were already familiar with. When he first arrived he saw the Mic Mac Indians writing on birch bark. Four  Egyptian hieroglyphs are the same appearance and meaning as Egyptian hieroglyphs.

 If Clercq himself had developed the characters for their written language he most likely would have used the Latin alphabet. The question becomes why would he use Egyptian hieroglyphs but most importantly how did he know the meaning of the hieroglyphs that he used. Egyptian hieroglyphs were undecipherable until 1820 when the Rosetta stone was discovered. The Rosetta stone made it possible to translate the ancient Egyptian written language. 

The chances of four characters being a coincidence has to be mathematically impossible. The hieroglyphs have to be from the characters the Mik Mac Indians were writing on birch bark.

Father Gabriel Druillettes said this of the Micmac. He preceded Clercq and made this observation around 1652.

"Some of them wrote out their lessons in their own manner. They made use of a small piece of charcoal instead of a pen, and a piece of bark instead of paper. Their characters are novel, and so individual that one could not know or understand the writing of the other; that is to say, that they made use of certain marks according to their own ideas as of a local memory to preserve the points and the articles and the maxims which they had remembered. They carried away this paper with them to study in the repose of the night."


Nephi describes their written language as reformed Egyptian.

The majority of MicMac characters are probably reformed Egyptian if not all of them.

The Anthon Transcript is the piece of paper on which Joseph Smith transcribed characters from the golden plates so that Martin Harris could show Dr. Charles Anton. Anton was an Egyptologist who could confirm the validity of the golden plates translation. Per the history, Anton described the characters as Egyptian, Chaldean and Assyrian.

Native American ties to the Book of Mormon

Native American ties to the Book of Mormon

Native American ties to the Book of Mormon, either through legend or culture.

Kishkumen

An Ojibwa Indian Chief named Keeshkemun, who succeeded his father to be chief, is mentioned in Warren’s book, Ojibwa History. Keeshkemun sounds strikingly similar to Kishkumen the Gadianton leader and one of the cities mentioned in the Book of Mormon. In fact if you google Keeshkemun, Kishkumen will come up. Besides Isrealis Ojibwa Indians have the highest concentration of haplogroup X DNA.

Onidah

The Book of Mormon in Alma 47:5 states that disaffected Lamanites gathered at a hill called Onidah
There is Native American Tribe in New York called Onieda phonetically exactly the same as Onidah


Onondaga

In May and June 1834 Joseph Smith led a Mormon group (a paramilitary expedition known as Zion’s Camp) on a march from Kirtland, Ohio to Jackson County, Missouri. On June 3, while passing through west-central Illinois near Griggsville, some bones were unearthed from a mound. These bones were identified by Smith. He had vision as to who the bones belonged to.

“At about one foot deep we discovered the skeleton of a man, almost entire; and between two of his ribs we found an Indian arrow, which had evidently been the cause of his death. Subsequently the visions of the past being opened to my understanding by the Spirit of the Almighty, I discovered that the person whose skeleton was before us was a white Lamanite, a large, thickset man, and a man of God. His name was Zelph. He was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus, who was known from the Hill Cumorah, or eastern sea to the Rocky Mountains.” 

The Prophet Onandagus is not mentioned in the Book of Mormon, but has obvious ties to the Onondaga Tribe whose traditional lands are in the state of New York. 

Native American Council Tower

Mosiah 2:7

7 For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected, that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them.

“Professor Carr of its once having supported a building similar to the council-house observed by Bartram on a mound at the old Cherokee town Cowe. Both were built on mounds, both were circular, both were built on posts set in the ground at equal distances from each other, and each had a central pillar. As tending to confirm this statement of Bartram’s, the following passage may be quoted, where, speaking of Colonel Christian’s march against the Cherokee towns in 1770, Eamsey says that this officer found in the center of each town ”a circular tower rudely built and covered with dirt, 30 feet in diameter, and about 20 feet high. This tower was used as a council-house… Mr. M. C. Bead, of Hudson, Ohio, discovered similar evidences in a mound near Chattanooga, and Mr. Gerard Fowke has quite recently found the same thing in a mound at Waverly, Ohio.”
(Thomas 1889 pg. 32)

The Lamanite Daughters

This is a stretch, but worth the effort. It has bits and pieces of the account of the Lamanite daughters. The Cherokee have a myth listed below, which I find ties to the Lamanite daughters who would go out to Shemlon to dance and make merry, but are abducted by the priests of Noah and become their spouses. The Lamanites try to find the daughters and blame the Nephites for their disappearance, which causes a war. This war continues until the Lamanites are told that the Nephites did not abduct the girls. The daughters stop the priests from being killed when they are found out.

“Allured by the haunting sound and diamond sparkle of a mountain stream, she wandered far up into a solitary glen[.] The dream picture of a fairyland was presently broken by the soft touch of a strange hand. The spirit of her dream occupied a place at her side, and, wooing, won her for his bride.
“Her supposed abduction caused great excitement among her people, who made diligent search for her recovery in their own villages. Being unsuccessful, they made war upon the neighboring tribes in the hope of finding the place of her concealment. Grieved because of so much bloodshed and sorrow, she besought the great chief[.] She appeared unto the chiefs in a dream (to stop the fighting).”
(Mooney 1902 pg. 478)

The Saying Bury the Hatchet

The Book of Mormon tells the history of the Anti-Nephi’s, a Lamanite people who no longer wanted to fight or kill other people. They made this covenant to God to longer fight by burying their weapons in the ground, never to use them again even in the case of self-defense for themselves or for their family.

The saying bury the hatchet comes from the Algonquin Indians of the Great Lakes area who also made peace by burying their weapons of war. As mentioned before, I think the Hopewell Indians are the best candidate to be the Nephites for numerous reasons - this is one of them.

The first mention of the practice in English is to an actual hatchet-burying ceremony.

Years before he gained notoriety for presiding over the Salem witch trials, Samuel Sewall wrote in 1680, “I write to you in one [letter] of the Mischief the Mohawks did; which occasioned Major Pynchon’s going to Albany, where meeting with the Sachem the[y] came to an agreement and buried two Axes in the Ground; one for English another for themselves; which ceremony to them is more significant & binding than all Articles of Peace[,] the hatchet being a principal weapon with them.”
(South Carolina and the Cherokee Nation 1785)

Treaty of Hopewell 1785, Keowee, South Carolina: signed by Col. Benjamin Hawkins, Gen. Andrew Pickens and Headman McIntosh, establishing the boundary of the Cherokee Nation. Use of the phrase ‘Bury the Hatchet: “ARTICLE 13. The hatchet shall be forever buried, and the peace given by the United States, and friendship re-established between the said states on the one part, and all the Cherokees on the other, shall be universal; and the contracting parties shall use their utmost endeavors to maintain the peace given as aforesaid, and friendship re-established.”

Native American Idioms and Phraseology

Native American idioms and phraseology, as described by early settlers, are consistent with the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. Below are some examples of Native American idioms consistent with scripture. Examples are from John Heckewelder’s Manners and Customs of The Indian Nations Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States.

Native American saying: “I will place you under my wings!”

Meaning: I will protect you at all hazards! You shall be perfectly safe, nobody shall molest you!

Scripture: 3 Nephi 10:6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.
(Heckewelder pg. 139)

Native American saying: ”To bury deep in the earth” (an injury done)

Meaning: To consign it to oblivion.

Scripture: 2 Nephi 26:5 And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them.
(Heckewelder pg. 140)

Native American saying: “You have spoken with your lips only, not from the heart!”

Meaning: You endeavor to deceive me; you do not intend to do as you say!

Scripture: 2 Nephi 27:25 Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men.
(Heckewelder pg. 139)

Native American saying: “draw the thorns out of your feet and legs, grease your Stiffened joints with oil, and wipe the sweat off your body.”

Meaning: I make you feel comfortable after your fatiguing journey, that you may enjoy yourself while with us.

Hebrew Custom: The washing of feet is a Hebrew custom. It was the first item done when entering a house or tent. The host would provide the water and the guest would wash his own feet. If the host was wealthy, a slave would wash the feet.

Anointing of oil was used by Jews to refresh and invigorate the body. This custom is still done today by Arabians. In the example there are some similarities in the cleaning of feet and legs from thorns and the anointing of oil or grease to refresh the body.
(Heckewelder pg. 139)

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