Why Indians become Mormons

'Why I'm a Mormon': Larry Echo Hawk

By Larry Echo HawkI had not been a good student through junior high and high school. I struggled because my mind was not focused on school. I loved sports but not academics.

The Book of Mormon was the first large book that I ever read from cover to cover. I read 10 pages every night, never missing a nightly reading.

When I finished the entire book, I knelt down and prayed. At that moment I had my first strong spiritual experience. I knew then the Book of Mormon was true. Until that moment I had not realized that Heavenly Father had been watching over me and giving me answers to all my prayers for healing and for a witness of truth.

It seemed to me that the Book of Mormon was about my Pawnee Indian ancestors. The Book of Mormon talks about the Lamanites, a people who would be scattered, smitten and nearly destroyed. But in the end they would be blessed if they followed the Savior.

That is exactly what I saw in my own family's history. When I read the Book of Mormon, it gave me very positive feelings about who I am, knowledge that Heavenly Father had something for me to accomplish in life, and instruction in how I could be an instrument in His hands in serving the needs of other people.Comment:  As I noted in Lamanites = "Filthy People," Mormons considered Indians dark and degenerate until they uplifted themselves with the white man's religion. Now Echo Hawk is, er, echoing this belief. He identified himself with the filthy Lamanites who needed to be saved from savagery.

So religion in general and Mormonism in particular is for people with low self-esteem who can't make it on their own and need a Great White Father to help them? Because that's the message I get from Echo Hawk's essay. If that sounds healthy to you, I have a bridge you may want to buy.

For more on Indians and Mormons, see Romney Associates with Bigot Fischer and Indians Blamed for Mountain Meadows.