Unsettling Scripture

“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