There is a caution that should be noted as to the historicity of the above statements as the causes of the Lamanite action against the Zeniffites. This is Zeniff interpreting Lamanite actions. There is no indication of any first hand knowledge of what occurred. This means that we need to examine Zeniff’s words critically.
Zeniff’s presumption of the motives of the Lamanites are based upon an assumption of their economic interests. Somehow, this perception of the Lamanite intention toward the Zeniffites became reasonable twelve years after the entry of the Zeniffites, but was not clear twelve years earlier. What is now an explanation for a Lamanite attack was apparently not a consideration twelve years earlier when Zeniff made the original treaty. What we cannot tell is whether this explanation of the Lamanites’ actions was an explanation after-the-fact, or whether some of the experience the Zeniffites had being neighbors of the Lamanites would have convinced them of this intention.
Since the attack fails, we must presume that even if it were an after-the-fact explanation, it had to be based on some other successful domination of a people by the Lamanites. This is the only way this explanation would occur to Zeniff. In the Mesoamerican context, this explanation of the reason for war is completely understandable. If the Lamanites had warred against any other people in the land, Zeniff might have known about the attack and the result, which would be the payment of tribute.
Zeniff specifically notes two things about the Lamanites, that they were “lazy and idolatrous.” The “lazy” appears to be a direct reference to the Lamanite desire for tribute, since it is given as a justification for the conquest and tribute pattern Zeniff must have noted for the Lamanites. However, the qualitative judgement of “lazy” probably does not accurately describe Lamanite life. The later Aztecs of Tenochtitlan (the city of Motecuhzoma) exacted tribute from many city states, but could hardly be called lazy. It is most probable that this description of the Lamanites is colored through prejudiced eyes.
The description of the Lamanites as “idolatrous” is a very specific designation dealing with religion. One becomes “idolatrous” when they turn to idols, and thus away from God. This process is inherently religious, but with the tight connection between religion and culture in the ancient world, it is also a turn to a different cultural system. As noted for the early Nephites, their acceptance of the ways of their neighbors began to shift them away from God and toward the belief and value systems of those neighbors. When these Lamanites are described as idolatrous, Zeniff is describing a religious cultural system that is opposed to the belief in the God of Israel. That this designation should be leveled against the Lamanites in the City of Nephi is particularly important when we remember that there must have been many racial Nephites who were now considered political Lamanites. This shift not only comes in politics, but with the religion that accompanied the political and cultural system. Zeniff is noting specifically that the Nephites-become-Lamanites have changed their religion as well as their political allegiance.
Zeniff associates the timing of the attack with a desire to conquer the Zeniffites before they became too powerful. Perhaps this was true, but it does not seem particularly likely. Twelve years is perhaps a little short for a people who were not seen originally as a military threat to become one. In twelve years their numbers would have naturally increased, but the presence of that many younger children would not create a military threat immediately. The only way for the Zeniffites to become stronger in twelve years is to attract smaller hamlets into a dependent status with them, and the addition of able bodied men might have triggered this particular fear in the Lamanites. However, this is still a supposition on the part of Zeniff. It is equally likely that the Lamanites were simply stirring for war with other people (where Zeniff would have learned of their desire for tribute) and the interests of the Lamanites happened to turn to the Zeniffites.