Lehi’s Transoceanic Voyage
Questions related to Lehi’s voyage, proposed by Dr. John L. Sorenson
Dr. John L. Sorenson is a Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Brigham Young University, and he asked the following questions regarding Lehi’s ocean voyage:
- What historical and cultural factors led to this voyage?
- What did members of this party know about destinations, routes, and nautical technology?
- Was this voyage referred to in later history in the area of origin?
- What vessel technology was available to the voyagers in this case?
- Was a suitable vessel procured or procurable without new construction of one?
- What materials, tools, and knowledge were obtained in order to construct the vessel, and from where and how were they procured?
- What was the design of the vessel, and how was it constructed?
- How long did construction take?
- What supplies and other materials were taken aboard in preparation for the voyage?
- What training was necessary to prepare the crew for the voyage?
- What port facilities were used for all the above actions?
- What was the ethnic, social, and cultural composition of he group making this voyage?
- What ritual, spiritual, psychological, ideological preparation of the voyagers was carried out?
- What seasonal timing was involved in preparation and departure?
- How was the vessel launched?
- How was a course laid and maintained, and how was the vessel operated?
- What route was followed? Were other routes to the destination feasible?
- What natural conditions were met and would likely have been met on alternate routes?
- What were living conditions and routine aboard ship? Did these change during the voyage?
- What emergencies occurred, and how were they met?
- What stops were made, why, and for how long?
- How long did the voyage take?
- How were the personnel onboard organized?
- What effects on mortality, health, and psychological and spiritual outlook did life on board have?
- Where did the vessel land, and what environment did the voyagers encounter at the landing place?
- What happened to the vessel after the landing?
- What modifications in their social organization resulted from the party’s moving from ship to land?
- How did the situation ashore change ethe party’s activity patterns?
- What elements of the culture of the group’s area of origin were filtered out, newly emphasized, or otherwise modified by the voyage and new settlement?
- What, if any, other people interacted with the immigrants soon after the landing, and what was the nature of the interaction?
- Did the newcomers move from the landing site? If so, when, why, and to where?
- What biological effects did the setting in the new land produce in the newcomers, and they in their neighbors?
- What spiritual and psychological effects did the new scene produce inthe newcomers?
- What traditions about the voyage did descendants or neighbors maintain or construct in later generations? Was the landing area later perceived in any special manner?
- How was voyaging as an activity viewed once the incoming group was settled in the land?
- How did remembrance of the voyage enter into subsequent social, cultural, and political life?
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