How have Latter-day Saints Understood Amerindian Origins?

It is not surprising that some Church members have concluded that all Amerindians were descendants of Lehi/Mulek. In fact, this was the initial conclusion drawn by many contemporaries of Joseph Smith, including his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, W.W. Phelps, Parley P. Pratt, and Orson Pratt. (The full wiki article contains all references. The link appears at the end of this article.) Many later members and leaders continued to emphasize this perspective, that all present Amerindians are Lehi’s descendants. Elder LeGrand Richards, an apostle, made this statement: “The dark-skinned people who occupied this land of American from that time on were called ‘Lamanites,’ who are the people known generally as the American Indians, all of whom are of the house of Israel.” A Re-evaluation However, this idea was not universally supported. Elder Levi Edgar Young of the First Council of the Seventy stated in General Conference 1928, There must be a clear distinction, it grows every year more evident, ...  more