Did the Mormons ever make a practice of taking land from the native Americans?

Answer 1

The Mormons generally got on a bit better with the Native-Americans than many of the other western pioneers but the record was certainly not unblemished. One reason for the somewhat better relations was that their belief that the Native Americans were at least partially descended from the people whose record was found in the Book of Mormon. That didn't prevent all conflicts but it certainly lessened them and encouraged the early members of the church to treat the Native Americans more equitably. Funny how that works - you treat other people with some respect and you get along better with them...

There is folklore to the effect that a treaty signed by Brigham Young with some of the Native Americans is one of the only treaties ever signed with them that was never broken by the white men. It would be interesting to find out if that is true.

==========

The name "Mormon" comes from the "Book of Mormon," which Mormons consider scripture. The Book of Mormon is about early immigrants to this hemisphere from Jerusalem and about their history, culture, and religion. Mormons have long regarded Native Americans as a remnant of those Book of Mormon people and have been interested in proselyting or preaching to them to share what they believe is Native American scripture. Many "Indians" have joined the Mormon Church, but many have not. Native Americans obviously have a variety of ancestors, and perhaps most are not descendents of Book of Mormon people; modern archaeological research suggests that the most likely descendents of Book of Mormon people would be from Central America. Interestingly, the Mormon Church has experienced some of its greatest growth among those people of Central and South America, who obviously feel a kinship with the Book of Mormon people. During pioneer times, because of that interest in who the Native Americans were, Mormons treated them with more kindness and consideration than they often got from other American settlers, and the two groups generally got along very well. Even so, there were some clashes early in Utah history, most notably the "Walker War," a very short dispute between Chief Wakara and settlers in Utah County. In an effort to help Native Americans receive needed education, in the 1950s, the Church started a program of fostering Native American children with Mormon families throughout Utah and Idaho (and possibly other areas) during the school year. The "Indian Placement Program" continued for 20 or 30 years and resulted in many close ties between Mormon and "Indian" families. There were certainly problems and disappointments on both sides, but many children benefitted greatly before the program was eventually discontinued.

Answer 2

The majority of Native American groups got along very well with the Mormon pioneers. Mormons believe that Native Americans are descendants of the people mentioned in the Book of Mormon, which are in turn descendants of the ancient Israelites from the Old Testament. Because of this, they treated the Native Americans with respect and dignity. Many Native Americans during this time were converted to the Church, and still today there are Mormon congregations on most Indian Reservations in the west.

Answer 3

No we have not. The only way we would walk on or camp or live on a Native American land is if we asked. We believe that we should respect the native culture of America, we might have traded with them or give them an idea of what our religion is like, but we would never steal from them.