Blog: Joseph Smith's brother studied alongside Haudenosaunee at Dartmouth
September 14, 2026 at 2:02 AM MT · via Wheat and Tares · Summarized by Mormon News from original reporting

A Wheat and Tares blog post explores Hyrum Smith's education at Dartmouth's Moor's Indian Charity School, where he studied alongside Native American students from the Haudenosaunee confederation. The author asks whether exposure to Native American religious practices—including the use of seer stones by Seneca prophet Handsome Lake—could have influenced the Book of Mormon's narrative and Joseph Smith's translation methods. The post notes that Moor's Charity School was founded specifically to educate Native students alongside colonists, and that Handsome Lake's teachings gained prominence during the same period Hyrum attended. The piece is speculative but draws on documented historical connections.
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