Call for Chapter Proposals to Edited Volume based on workshop theme of “Indigenous Perspectives on the Meanings of ‘Lamanite’”

We write to announce a call for chapter proposals for an edited volume tentatively titled, “Written to the Lamanites: Indigenous Perspectives on Lamanite Discourses.’” Chapter proposals are due by September 5, 2023.

The Book of Mormon styles itself as a record “written to the Lamanites,” descendants of the House of Israel who left Jerusalem and populated the Americas a millennia before the arrival of Europeans. Later followers of Joseph Smith, Jr. expanded the category to include peoples of the Pacific. Since Smith’s day, Latter-day Saints have used the term “Lamanite” to make sense of the world and to assign space in various religious frameworks for peoples Indigenous to the Americas and the Pacific. This has served to attract people to, and repel people from, Smith’s movements inasmuch as “Lamanite” works as a term of liberation as well as a constraint.

This edited volume will represent a community of scholars who address the category of “Lamanite,” centering on Indigenous voices concerned with questions of identity, race, religion, settler colonialism, politics, and the relation of “Lamanite” to other facets of life. This volume will include different academic approaches and, most importantly, Indigenous methodologies and protocols from the communities in which these scholars are rooted.

This proposed volume stems from recent workshops aimed at supporting the community of scholars interested in reflecting collaboratively on the discourses of “Lamanite.” The edited volume, however, will be inclusive of scholarship developed independent of the workshops. We encourage those with strong ties to Indigenous communities to submit chapter proposals based on their work relating to these discourses. 

Scholarly approaches of all kinds will be considered, including studies relating to Indigenous experiences with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Community of Christ, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and/or any other religious group based on the teachings of Joseph Smith. This volume will bridge Indigenous Studies and Mormon Studies by examining the complex ways that Indigenous peoples have interpreted the notion of “Lamanite” as introduced in the Book of Mormon as well as the ways Indigenous communities have been affected by the discourses and practices derived from the text.

The volume editors, Dr. Farina King (Diné) of the University of Oklahoma and Dr. Michael D. K. Ing (Kanaka ʻŌiwi) of Indiana University, will review the proposals and coordinate with the contributing authors and publisher for further development of the project. Final acceptance of the chapter will be determined by the publisher.

For the proposal, submit a CV and a chapter abstract (no more than 500 words). Proposals should be emailed to lamanitemeanings@gmail.com, addressed to Farina King and Michael Ing, as a single PDF by Tuesday, September 5, 2023 to be considered.

Here is the attached CFP flyer:

Ahéhee’ and Mahalo (Thanks) for your consideration. We look forward to the possibility of collaborating and coming together in this work. 

Special thanks to our committed sponsors that have made this intellectual community and initiative possible: the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies, the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, and Department of History at Brigham Young University; the American West Center, Department of History, and Mormon Studies at the University of Utah; Mormon Studies at Utah State University; Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University; Signature Books; the Center for the American West at the University of Colorado-Boulder; Sunstone; the Mormon History Association; Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought; the Museum of Mormon History of the Americas; the National Museum of American Religion; Global Mormon Studies; Mormon Social Science Association; Utah Division of State History; Mormon Studies at the University of Virginia; and other partners and scholars from throughout the world. We also thank Diné artist M. Nazbah for her art designed for this collaborative work.

Michael David Kaulana Ing, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Religious Studies

Indiana University

https://religiousstudies.indiana.edu/about/faculty/ing-michael.html

Farina King, Ph.D.

Horizon Chair of Native American Ecology and Culture

Associate Professor

Department of Native American Studies

University of Oklahoma

https://www.ou.edu/cas/nas/people/farina-king