January/February 2023
From the Polynesian Islands to the eastern seaboard of the United States, from Canada to South America, they called him by different names — the Healer, the Prophet, the Miracle Worker, God of the Dawn Light, the Wind God, the Teacher, the White-Robed Master. Although the names were different, the legends are sung the same: In Polynesia, they tell of three great ships that sailed from the West. Moving across the water, there appeared a fair-skinned man in a long white garment, brown hair and beard glowing gold in the morning sun. When He reached land, the people saw that His robe was dry. Thus they knew He was a God. Scholars ascribe this legend to the 1st century AD.
Among the Toltecs of central Mexico there lived a Prophet with gray-green eyes and golden sandals. With 12 disciples He taught the people His religion of peace.
The Mound Builders of North America told of a great Healer who could raise the dead and heal the sick. He walked among the people, hands raised in blessing. A mysterious cross graced each palm. Such are the stories whispered by the Holy Men and Keepers of the Legends for nearly 2,000 years.
Revealing the holy legends
In 1918, Lucile Taylor Hansen was a college student, spending her summer vacation with the Chippewa Indian tribe in Michigan. Her interest in their life was more than scholarly. Their language and dances, their culture and religion struck a richly harmonic chord in her soul. Dark Thunder, the chief, shared much of the tribal knowledge with her and one day told her of a Holy Man who had visited the tribe in distant times. This man came to the Indians when their empire was united, and great cities stretched for miles. Wherever He went the miracles followed, and always He spoke of the Kingdom of His Father.
In this brief story, Hansen sensed the germ of one much greater. That summer, a council of many tribes was called to tell the young student the holy legends. Her own gift to the council would be a book that would preserve their words for future seekers. Thus was born He Walked the Americas, a book pursued over two continents, during the course of 45 years. …
Benjamin Creme answers:
Q. You mentioned something about previous incarnations of the Master Jesus in America among Native Americans. Please give more information about this fact.
BC. Jesus taught the native American ‘Indians’ in the sixth and seventh centuries, predicting the coming of a great teacher from the East. Various forms of the name, Jesus, were known, at least until recently, in the oral tradition of the various tribes, North and South. He later went to Polynesia and taught the people of these islands. The only group I have encountered who know these facts are the Mormons. (Share International, November 1988)