I’m not sure when I first heard of the Lost Tribes of Israel, it was years ago and never part of my faith tradition, but I think it was in connection with the Mormons. https://claudemariottini.com/2006/02/17/the-mormon-church-and-the-lost-tribes-of-israel/
This article at Jewish Learning traces the belief that Native Americans were descended from the Jews dispersed in the 8th century BC by the Assyrians to a 17th century Dutch Rabbi, Manasseh ben Israel who wrote The Hope of Israel (1650). https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/native-americans-jews-the-lost-tribes-episode/ The article doesn’t mention Mormons, but speculates what this belief did for both Christians and Jews.
“The Lost Tribe theory had significant symbolic stakes — for Jews, Christians and Native Americans. Linking America and its earliest inhabitants with the Bible and its theology, meant staking a claim on America–and championing God’s plan for the New World.”
Here’s a copy of the 1650 text in English. http://olivercowdery.com/texts/1650hope.htm
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
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