The Book of Mormon asserts that Native Americans areof Hebrew descent, specifically from one of the lost tribes (Joseph), and uses the Old Testament to support this. However, the idea that the American Indians were descendants of the Hebrews was a common one in early America before the Book of Mormon was published.

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Some writers argued that Native Americans descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel because of similarities between customs and languages. Others saw Christian ideas among the American Indians and believed that Christianity had been taught to them since the first century of the Christian era. The idea was so important that writers of that period published lengthy books on the topic. Indeed, it was one of the most popular views at the time the Book of Mormon came off the press.