ABOUT THIS BOOKA groundbreaking exploration of the unexpected intersections between Haudenosaunee oral tradition and Latter-day Saint scripture
In Unsettling Scripture: Iroquois and the Book of Mormon, anthropologist Thomas W Murphy delves into the visions of Seneca prophet Handsome Lake, the epic narratives of the Iroquois Confederacy, and the origin story of the Book of Mormon, revealing surprising parallels between Indigenous and Mormon traditions.
Through ethnohistorical research and decolonizing methodologies, Murphy reexamines how both communities understand their origins, faith, and prophecy. From Handsome Lake’s revelations to Joseph Smith’s seer stone, from ancient sibling rivalries to the Great Peace, this book unsettles traditional narratives while opening new conversations on scripture, identity, and cultural exchange. Drawing from living Indigenous voices, Unsettling Scripture challenges readers to rethink sacred texts and the histories they tell.
REVIEWS“In what will certainly be one of the most provocative and shocking books to mention the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Thomas W Murphy delves into the most infamous case of cultural appropriation that ever took place: the ‘revelations’ recorded by Joseph Smith in the Book of Mormon. Murphy goes beyond the similarities to the visions of Handsome Lake, a late eighteenth-century Seneca prophet, and suggests the stories Smith told about the ‘Kingmen’ and ‘Freemen’ were actually about how the American Revolution unfolded in Iroquoia. Many of us have wondered about what inspired Smith, but Murphy is the first scholar to really go there.”—Darren Bonaparte, author of Creation & Confederation: The Living History of the Iroquois
“Thomas W Murphy offers a compelling argument that the Book of Mormon contains tangible Indigenous history, which is silenced in a settler-colonial imaginary of 'disappeared and deceased Indigenes.’ Unsettling Scripture captivatingly identifies early Latter-day Saint absorption and reconfiguration of living Haudenosaunee discourse from the 19th century.”—Arcia Tecun, Utah Valley University
“What would it mean for Mormon people to take our own stories seriously enough to recognize and reckon with our shortcomings and responsibilities? Thomas Murphy shows us how to begin to walk the walk, on a path that leads through the heart of the Book of Mormon and into renewed relationships with the Indigenous people of Turtle Island. This book does powerful work in a spirit of humility that I hope will have broad influence in Mormon Studies.”—Joanna Brooks, San Diego State University