The Lamanite daughters refer to a group of twenty-four young women of Lamanite descent who found themselves at the center of political and military turmoil between the Nephites and Lamanites during King Limhi’s reign. They were accustomed to gathering together in a place called Shemlon, where they engaged in cultural traditions of singing, dancing, and making merry (Mosiah 20:1). However, their lives took a dramatic turn when a band of Nephite priests, followers of the deposed King Noah, kidnapped them (Mosiah 20:5).
The abduction of these young women caused a significant rift. When the event became known, their Lamanite kin believed the kidnapping was the work of Limhi’s people, leading to retaliatory attacks against the Nephite colony over which Limhi presided (Mosiah 20:6-7). The truth, however, pointed to the priests of Noah as the perpetrators, which momentarily appeased the Lamanites. Nevertheless, it set in motion an increased oppression of Limhi’s people and subsequent events that would shape the destiny of both the Nephite and Lamanite nations.
Eventually, the Lamanite daughters were found by a Lamanite army lost in the wilderness, along with the priests, who had by then made these women their wives (Mosiah 23:30-31). Their integration into Lamanite society followed, and these women showed a notable influence on Lamanite decisions, especially when they succeeded in pleading for the lives of their husbands (Mosiah 23:33-34). They and their offspring would become wrapped up in the future hostilities and struggles that marked Lamanite-Nephite relations, as their formerly Nephite husbands played significant roles in shaping the religious and political landscapes of both peoples.