Man in the middle
Published on Aug 19, 2010 05:25PM
A Navajo who personified the complicated relationship between the Mormon Church and American Indians, has died, excommunicated more than decade from the church he loved.
George P. Lee, who was one of the first Navajo children in the LDS Church’s Indian Placement Program, rose to the position of LDS general authority and many Mormons thought he might reach even more powerful positions in the worldwide church. But any hope of further achievement ended in 1989 when he was excommunicated for "heresy" and attempted child abuse.
Armand Mauss, an LDS sociologist, says Lee was "created and destroyed" by changing Mormon policies toward native peoples within the church.
"George P. Lee is one of the truly tragic figures in modern Mormon history."
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