Heber J. Meeks and his companions, while serving as a missionary for the Church in Alaska launched the missionary work in Alaska, offered the following dedicatory prayer:
Our Father and our God. We
thy Servants, clothed in the Holy Melchizedik [sic] Priesthood,
present ourselves before thee in this beautiful spot and offer our devotion unto
Thee. We pray, our Father in Heaven that thy spirit may rest upon down us in
power and warm our souls and permeate our beings that we may have assurance
that our labors are approved of Thee.
In as much as we have been
called to proclaim thy word in this land and to officially open up the work of
preaching thy Gospel, we do bless this land, set is part and dedicate it to
this purpose and we do it in the authority of The Holy Priesthood in
us vested.
We pray Thee our Father in
Heaven, to bless and sanctify this land to the preaching of thy word. Temper
the elements that this land may yield its strength in being fruitful and in
yielding souls unto thee the Lord.
In the authority of the
Holy Priesthood, we bless the waters of this Territory that may be friendly;
that Thy servants, oh Lord, may ride upon their bosom in perfect peace and
security; that not one shall be swallowed up in their depths, while in the
performance of their duty. We bless the land and the water that the blood of
Israel may be gathered to enjoy the blessings promised to their Fathers and
that this land may become a land of Zion to the pure in heart. We bless the
adopted children of this land that they may receive Thy word, through thy
servants and come to a knowledge of the truth. We bless the natives of this
land, who are a remanant [sic] of the house of Israel, through
the lions of Joseph. We bless them the sons and daughters of Lehi, that they may
be found by thy servants; that they may be brought to a knowledge of their
forefathers and the promises made to them. May thy servants deliver unto them
the “Book of Mormon” to their enlightenment and blessing, and now, our
Father, We again bless this great land that she may yield fruits in her strength,
that she may become a land of Zion, sanctified to those who receive Thy word
and keep thy commandments; that Israel may be gathered; that churches and even
temples may be erected to thy Holy name. (Journal of Heber J. Meeks, June 6,
1928, in Fred E. Woods, Melting the Ice: A History of Latter-day Saints in
Alaska [Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2018], 49-50, emphasis added)
Notice
two things from the above dedicatory prayer:
(1)
the language of “clothing” is a metaphor for an inward reality. On this,
see:
Does
clothing imagery support imputation?
Transformative
Justification in the Odes of Solomon
D&C
138:51 and Clothing Imagery
Martha
Himmelfarb on Clothing Imagery and Transformation in 2 and 3 Enoch (cf. Response
to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness)
(2) More importantly for the focus of this blog, the indigenous natives of “this land” (i.e., Alaska) are said to be a remnant
of Lehi et al. This is contrary to the “Heartland” model of Book of Mormon geography.
For more, see the following series of blog posts by Stephen Smoot reviewing David R. Hocking and Rodney L. Meldrum, eds, Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah: Digital Legend
Publishing, 2018).
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 1): Introduction
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 2): Archaeology
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 3A): "This Land"
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 3B): "choice land"
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 3C): Lamanites
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 3D): Zarahemla
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 3E): Zelph
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 4): Parallelomania
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 5): Unsubstantiated Claims
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 6): DNA
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 7): Miscellaneous Errors
A Review of the
Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Part 8): Conclusion
Further
evidence that early LDS missionaries in Alaska believed the indigenous people in
the area were descended from Lehi et al., are seen in a letter Elder Lowell
Plowman wrote to the editor of the LDS periodical, Liahona, the Elders’ Journal
26, no. 4 (August 7, 1928): 88 by mission secretary, Elwood G. Derrick, published
under the title of “News
from the Missions”:
The whites and natives are
about evenly divided and fairly good success has been had among both classes.
The people are anxious to receive literature and Books of Mormon as a rule.
Naturally the elders are concerned in the natives because of their connection
with the Book of Mormon. Elder Plowman relates a peculiar experience while
tracting. "The work here is progressing rapidly," he writes. "What
I like best is to take our message to the Indians. The Indians here are of a
higher type than those at home. They are proud of their blood and we know they
have good reason. They are very anxious to purchase and read the Book of
Mormon. These Indians are interested in learning of their forefathers. They
listen intently to what we tell them, and what we have to tell them seems to
satisfy them. These Indians also have a legend of Christ's appearance to them.
The legend is very similar to the ones held by the Aztecs of Mexico.
Commenting
on the above, Fred E. Woods noted that:
Plowman may have viewed
this interest by the Alaskan Natives of the Ketchikan region as an outgrowth of
the blessing offered by Meeks in Juneau: “We bless them the sons and daughters
of Lehi, [meaning Alaskan Natives] that they may be found by thy servants; that
they may be brought to a knowledge of their forefathers and the promises made
to them. May thy servants deliver unto them the ‘Book of Mormon’ to their
enlightenment and blessing.” See Journal of Heber J. Meeks, June 6, 1928. (Woods,
Melting the Ice, 71)
Early
20th-century LDS attitudes towards the indigenous natives of Alaska
serves as yet another nail in the coffin of the Heartland model of the Book of
Mormon.
