My Brethren Were Confounded and Could Not Contend Against Me

Alan C. Miner

According to an article by Clate Mask, in the Maya-Cakchiquel document Annals of the Xahils (Guatemalan), the Mayan ancestor was referred to by the others as "our younger brother":

"Then we arrived at the border of the sea. All the warriors of the tribes met together at the border of the sea. Then the hearts of many were consumed in anguish. We can't cross, and isn't it said that we have to cross the sea, said all the warriors of the seven tribes. Who will tell us how to cross the sea? Oh, our younger brother, you are our hope, they all said. . . . Then they all said, Have pity on us, oh our younger brother, because we are spread along the seashore and can't see [the promised] hills and plains. As soon as we went to sleep, we were defeated, we the two firstborn sons, we the hill tops, we the heads, we the first warriors of the seven tribes, oh my younger brother, . . . don't kill us."

[Clate Mask, "And They Called the Place Tulan," p. 4]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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