"Twenty years ago today in Mormon history . . . . . Elder George P. Lee, the first American Indian General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was excommunicated. In 1975, after Lee served as a mission president in Arizona, he became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, one of the presiding bodies of the LDS church. Lee was 32. His autobiography proved to be popular. "Silent Courage: An Indian Story: The Autobiography of George P. Lee, a Navajo" went through nine printings.

Lee felt a kinship with former president of the church Spencer W. Kimball, who had had lived with a Navajo family while growing up and had many American Indian friends. President Kimball championed the American Indian during his presidency and created various programs to assist the American Indian.

After serving as a general authority for fourteen years, ten of those years under Spencer W. Kimball, Elder Lee was excommunicated on September 1st, 1989 for "apostasy and other conduct unbecoming a member of the church." Lee was the 1st general authority to be excommunicated since 1943, when Apostle Richard R. Lyman was excommunicated for living in a secret polygamous relationship.

While the public was unaware at the time of the excommunication, Lee had been molesting a twelve-year old neighbor under the pretention of polygamy."

Get the Story:
Clair Barrus: The excommunication of Elder George P. Lee (The Salt Lake History Examiner 8/31)