Editing Lamanites (section)

==Book of Mormon narrative==
{{primary sources section|date=August 2021}}
According to the Book of Mormon, the family of [[Lehi (Book of Mormon)|Lehi]], described as a wealthy [[Hebrews|Hebrew]] [[prophet]], the family of [[Ishmael (Book of Mormon)|Ishmael]], and Zoram traveled from the [[Middle East]] to the [[Americas]] by boat in around 600 BC.{{sfn|Givens|2009|p=3}} In his dying blessings to his children, Lehi assigns tribes to his descendants, usually named after the son whose family made up the tribe: Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites after [[Nephi, son of Lehi|Nephi]], [[Joseph (Book of Mormon)|Joseph]], Zoram, [[Laman and Lemuel|Laman, and Lemuel]]. Lehi's son [[Sam (Book of Mormon)|Sam]] is included in the Nephites, his sons-in-law are presumably included together in the [[Ishmael (Book of Mormon)|Ishmaelites]], and Zoram was not Lehi's son, but his family travelled with Lehi's family.<ref>see {{harvnb|Austin|2024|p=102}} which draws on the research in {{cite book |last1=Welch |first1=John |editor1-last=Nyman |editor1-first=Monte S. |title=The Book of Mormon: Second Nephi, The Doctrinal Structure |date=1989 |publisher=[[Religious Studies Center]], [[Brigham Young University]] |isbn=0884946991 |chapter-url=https://rsc.byu.edu/book-mormon-second-nephi-doctrinal-structure/lehis-last-will-testament-legal-approach |chapter=Lehi’s Last Will and Testament: A Legal Approach}}</ref> In 2 Nephi 5, the narrative divides the people into [[Nephites]] and Lamanites; in his book ''The Testimony of Two Nations'', [[Michael Austin (writer)|Michael Austin]] interprets these as categories of convenience for the sake of the narrative, similar to how the twelve tribes of Israel are divided into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in the Old Testament.<ref>{{multiref|For Nephite-Lamanite division, see {{harvnb|Givens|2009|p=8}}.|For categories of convenience, see {{harvnb|Austin|2024|pp=44–45}}}}</ref>

After the two groups separated from each other, the rebellious Lamanites were cursed and "cut off from the presence of the Lord."<ref>see {{harvnb|Thomas|2016|p=42}}, which draws from {{lds|2 Nephi|5|20}}</ref> They received a "skin of blackness" so they would "not be enticing" to the Nephites. Centuries later, the narrative in the [[Book of Alma]] still describes the skin of the Lamanites as "dark."<ref>{{multiref|For description of skin of Lamanites, see {{harvnb|Mauss|2003|p=116}}.|For "skin of blackness" and "not be enticing", see {{lds|2 Nephi|5|21}}}}</ref>

The Book of Mormon describes the animosity the Lamanite people held toward the Nephites. The Lamanites believed they were "driven out of the land of Jerusalem because of the iniquities of their fathers" and were wronged by [[Nephi, son of Lehi|Nephi]] and so swore vengeance against his descendants.<ref>{{lds|Mosiah|10|12–13}}</ref> The Lamanites taught their children to have "eternal hatred" towards the Nephites, and "that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them."<ref>see {{harvnb|Thomas|2016|loc="Part Three of the Book of Mosiah (9.1–10.22)"|p=77}}, which quotes {{lds|Mosiah|10|16–17}}</ref>

After the two groups warred for centuries, the narrative states that [[Jesus Christ]] appeared to the more righteous Nephites and the Lamanites, who, by then, had converted in large numbers to righteousness before God. Soon after his visit, the Lamanites and Nephites merged into one nation and co-existed for two centuries in peace.<ref>{{multiref|For warfare between groups, see {{harvnb|Givens|2009|p=51}}.|For merging of groups, see {{harvnb|Austin|2024|p=116}} and {{harvnb|Largey|2003|loc="Lamanite civilization"}}}}</ref> The Book of Mormon further recounts, "There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God."<ref>see {{harvnb|Thomas|2016|loc="4 Nephi"|p=156}}, which quotes {{lds|4 Nephi|4 Nephi|1|17}}</ref>

However, 84 years after the coming of Christ, "a small part of the people who had revolted from the church" started calling themselves Lamanites again.<ref>{{lds|4 Nephi|4 Nephi|1|20}}</ref> Those who remained were again identified as Nephites, but both groups were reported to have fallen into apostasy.<ref>For division and apostacy, see {{harvnb|Thomas|2016|p=157}}, which draws from {{lds|4 Nephi|4 Nephi|1|36}}</ref> The reestablished Lamanites and Nephites were largely distinguished by ideological choices rather than by previous ethnic distinctions. The Book of Mormon recounts a series of large battles over two centuries, ending with the extermination of the Nephites by the Lamanites.<ref>{{harvnb|Largey|2003|loc="Lamanite civilization"}}; {{harvnb|Austin|2024|p=117}}</ref>