According to the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

, Hagoth () was a

Nephite According to the Book of Mormon, the Nephites () are one of four groups (along with the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) to have settled in the ancient Americas. The term is used throughout the Book of Mormon to describe the religious, po ...

ship builder who lived in or around 55 BCE. At least two of the ships he built were lost. The occupants of one ship were presumed drowned. Hagoth and his shipbuilding accomplishments are briefly described in the book of

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

in the Book of Mormon:

5 And it came to pass that Hagoth, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward.
6 And behold, there were many of the Nephites who did enter therein and did sail forth with much provisions, and also many women and children; and they took their course northward. And thus ended the thirty and seventh year.
7 And in the thirty and eighth year, this man built other ships. And the first ship did also return, and many more people did enter into it; and they also took much provisions, and set out again to the land northward.
8 And it came to pass that they were never heard of more. And we suppose that they were drowned in the depths of the sea. And it came to pass that one other ship also did sail forth; and whither she did go we know not. (
Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...
63:5-8)

Polynesian theory

Non-scriptural sources suggest that Hagoth led an expedition, sailing into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

from the Americas. Some leaders of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) and scholars have stated that the peoples of the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

, including

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, are descendants of the

Hagoth and his followers. According to the Book of Mormon, the Nephites were descendants of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Many members of the LDS Church in Polynesia have come to believe that Hagoth is their ancestor. Non-Mormon scholars largely dismiss this hypothesis, citing genetic, archaeological, and anthropological evidence which indicates that Polynesian peoples come from

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...

. Despite general agreement among scholars that the principal ancestors of Polynesian peoples migrated from Southeast Asia, there are a few evidences of the possibility of contact with peoples in the Western Hemisphere.

Sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

es, which are native to South America, are a common traditional staple throughout Polynesia. The

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

word for sweet potato is ''kumar'', very similar to the Polynesian word ''kumara'' for the same plant''.'' There is also DNA evidence of contact between Polynesian and South American peoples prior to European contact. Differentiating between scriptural and apocryphal accounts of Hagoth and his ships, one LDS writer makes the following observations:

The Book of Mormon does not equate the "west sea" with the Pacific Ocean. The Book of Mormon does not tell us that Hagoth was on board any of the ships that were lost. Scripture does not say that he captained a vessel or that he was an explorer or an adventurer, or that he led people. For all we can tell, the skilled Hagoth's main objective was to profit from the shipping industry. It is possible for peoples in various places to be related to Hagoth's people (the Nephites) without Hagoth personally making an ocean voyage. Coastal and Island hopping colonies, once associated with Nephite shipping, could have built more vessels and traveled very far. It is also important to realize that the peoples of the Pacific islands may have come from more than one direction.

One problem with considering Polynesia to be at least partly peopled by "Nephite" descendants is that the Book of Mormon itself does not insist upon the point, and there is likewise no official doctrine in the LDS Church covering it. The New Zealand Area Conference Report, Feb 1976, states that President Spencer W. Kimball told the people of New Zealand, ”President Joseph F. Smith, the president of the Church reported, 'You brethren and sisters from New Zealand, I want you to know that you are from the people of Hagoth.' For New Zealand Saints, that was that. A prophet of the Lord had spoken.” Also, in the dedicatory prayer for the Hamilton, New Zealand Temple, April 20, 1958, President David O. McKay said, "We express gratitude that to these fertile Islands Thou didst guide descendants of Father Lehi."Hamilton New Zealand Temple Dedicatory Prayer
Retrieved Sept 15, 2020.

References

{{reflist Book of Mormon people Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact Mormonism and Pacific Islanders Mormon folklore

Polynesian theory

See also

References