Lamanites. The followers of Laman, who is mentioned in the Book of Mormon as the eldest and wicked son of Lehi. First Nephi 12:23 states that after the Lamanites “dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” The Lamanites annihilated the light-skinned Nephites at the battle at the Hill Cumorah. The Book of Mormon teaches that the dark-skinned Lamanites are of the “House of Israel,” and many Mormons believe Lamanites were the ancestors of the modern American Indians. However, DNA evidence yields no support for such a conclusion.

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