It appears from this statement that the Lamanites understood the Nephite heritage of this man (Aminadab, as we learn in the next verse) and so they turn to him for an explanation. They recognize that something different is happening, but this is not a mode of representation of the communication with the divine that they recognize, so even though they recognize it as important and connected to the gods, they do not fully understand how to interpret the scene. They turn to Aminadab whose religious background with the Nephites should have given him the cultural background to interpret this event, even if he had left the belief system it represented.