“Men Are Friends in the Heavens”: The Copper Records, Isaiah, and Our Stewardship Today

The Miskwaabik Ozhibii’iwe—the Copper Records—carry an origin story that is at once cosmic and intimate. Believed to be more than 2,600 years old, these teachings originate in the Land of Compassion, in what is now Guatemala (Zarahemla), and were later carried north to the Great Lakes, where they were carefully copied onto copper leaves. They speak of Sky Mother and Sky Father, of the Great Spirit, of the first Anishinaabe, Mide and Ode’imin, and of a garden that once held the world in perfect balance.

For restoration believers, who held dear the return of the spiritual righteousness of the Tribal Peoples and the hidden Israel leadership that was led to the American Continent, the spirit of these records feels both ancient and familiar. Their themes resonate deeply with the Bible, especially Genesis, as it is an older and more complete version unaffected by European monarchies, and Isaiah, and with Restoration scripture that expands our understanding of creation, agency, fall, and redemption.

In this article, we will explore:

1. The Copper Records and the Creation of Humanity

2. The Fall as Broken Relationship, Not Just Broken Law

3. Justice and Mercy: The Creator’s Balanced Response

4. Isaiah’s Witness: Creation, Covenant, and Restoration

5. Our Day: Stewardship, Agency, and the Good Way
   

The aim is not to collapse distinct traditions into one, but to show how the Lord often teaches His children in patterns that echo across peoples, lands, and ages.

1. The Copper Records and the Creation of Humanity

In the Copper Records, the creation narrative unfolds in a series of “prayers”—sacred acts of ordering chaos into life. Sky Father, Sky Mother, and the Great Spirit cooperate in bringing forth light, waters, land, plants, animals, and finally the Anishinaabe, the human family.

The text describes the Anishinaabe as:

• The seventh being, the “perfect creation.”

• Formed from red clay and spirit:

  “From the fog, the Sky Father, the Great Spirit and Sky Mother formed the Anishinaabe from the red clay of the eastern shore upon the great sea, forming the vessel by hand.” (Ch. 4)

• Created in the image and likeness of their divine parents:

  “The seventh being, perfect in form, they are understanding, and they are speaking as the Sky Father and Sky Mother.” (Ch. 4)

• Commissioned as stewards:

  “Be fruitful and abundant, steward the earth and explore it, overcome the opposition to peace and reveal the kindness within of all living beings.” (Ch. 5)
  

This aligns closely with the biblical account:

• Genesis 1:26–28 teaches that humanity is created in the image of God, male and female, and given dominion—stewardship—over the earth.
  

The Copper Records emphasize that humans are not owners of creation, but caretakers, invited into the work of the Great Spirit. Their greatness is defined not by power, but by kindness—Mide—from Mino Good and Ode Heart, and the path that flows from it, Midewiwin, “the way of kindness.”

This is deeply compatible with the restored understanding that:

• We are spirit children of Heavenly Parents (Sky Father and Sky Mother in the Copper narrative).
  

2. The Fall as Broken Relationship, Not Just Broken Law

The Copper Records present a rich, relational view of the Fall.

The Tree of Knowledge and the Misuse of Free Will

In the garden, two great trees stand out:

• The Tree of Life, associated with transformation and eternal life.

• The Tree of Knowledge, later called the Tree of the Knowledge of Disobedience, whose fruit carries the memory of a tree’s earlier rebellion.
  

Mide and Ode’imin are commanded:

“Of every tree in this great garden you may eat, including the tree of life, but the Tree of Knowledge, you cannot eat… as it will cause your vessels formed from the drop of earth to wither and pass back to where it came from.” (Ch. 6)

The Water Panther, the twisting serpent, tempts Ode’imin with a familiar set of lies:

• That the Creator’s command is restrictive rather than protective.

• That mortality and limits are a curse rather than part of a wise plan.

• That good and evil are subjective, defined by her own independent judgment.
  

After prolonged persuasion, she eats. Mide, torn between obedience to the Creator and loyalty to his wife, also partakes.

The Consequences: Separation and Shame

Immediately:

• They become self-conscious and cover themselves with leaves.

• They feel separated from the Great Spirit and from creation.

• They hide when the Sky Father and Great Spirit enter the garden.
  

The Sky Father’s question echoes the Lord’s question to Adam in Genesis:

“Mide where are you?” (Ch. 9; compare Genesis 3:9)

This is not a request for information; it is an invitation to accountability and repentance. Instead, Mide blames:

“The woman YOU gave me…” (Ch. 9; compare Genesis 3:12)

Here, as in Genesis 3, the Fall is not merely the breaking of a rule. It is the breaking of relationship—with God, with one another, and with the earth.

We recognize this pattern:

• Adam and Eve’s transgression introduces mortality, pain, and separation from God.

• Yet their choice is also part of a larger plan, making possible the joy of family, growth, and redemption (see 2 Nephi 2:22–25).
  

The Copper Records similarly acknowledge both the tragedy and the necessity of the Fall: without it, the Anishinaabe would not fully experience agency, growth, and the eventual joy of redemption.

3. Justice and Mercy: The Creator’s Balanced Response

One of the most powerful aspects of the Copper narrative is how clearly it holds justice and mercy together.

Justice: Real Consequences

The Sky Mother and Sky Father do not minimize the seriousness of the disobedience:

• The Water Panther is judged:

  • His speech is removed; he is reduced to a hiss.

  • His limbs are torn away; he is placed “below all the creatures of creation.” (Ch. 10)
    

• Birth becomes long and painful:

  “Now you will endure… nine months, and carry the struggle of raising your children… You will now give birth in anguish and pain.” (Ch. 10)
  

• Labor and land are affected:

  “The lands beyond the garden will now be a source of suffering… the earth will yield all manner of insects… making the cultivation of food a struggle.” (Ch. 11)

• Mide and Ode’imin are removed from the garden, lest they eat of the Tree of Life and live forever in a fallen state (Ch. 11–12).
  

This parallels the scriptural pattern:

• In Genesis 3, the serpent, the woman, and the man each receive consequences that affect body, family, and land.

• In 2 Nephi 2, Lehi explains that the Fall introduces opposition, pain, and death, but also agency and joy.

  
  

Mercy: Parental Compassion

Yet even in judgment, the Creator responds as a loving parent:

• The Great Deer offers himself as a sacrifice, and the Sky Father and Sky Mother clothe Mide and Ode’imin in deerskin:

  “Demonstrating the kindness and compassion of parents toward their children, even in the face of disobedience.” (Ch. 11)

• Their aging is halted; they are made mortal, but not destroyed (Ch. 9).

• Their children born in the garden are treated with mercy, their lives shortened but not fully under the same condemnation (Ch. 10).

• Most significantly, the Great Spirit promises:

  “I will, in time, come to your descendants as a deliverer to correct your wrongs and allow your family to return to the garden.” (Ch. 12)
  

This is profoundly consistent with the restored gospel:

• God is both perfectly just and perfectly merciful (Alma 42).

• The Fall is answered by a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who will come “in the meridian of time” to atone for sin and overcome death (Moses 5:9; Alma 34).

• Clothing Adam and Eve with coats of skins in Genesis 3:21 has long been seen as a symbol of atonement and covenant covering.
  

The Copper Records testify that the Creator does not abandon His children in their fallen state. He disciplines, corrects, and then opens a path back.

4. Isaiah’s Witness: Creation, Covenant, and Restoration

Among all biblical books, Isaiah most fully mirrors the theological arc of the Copper Records: creation, covenant, fall, judgment, and ultimate restoration.

Creation and Stewardship

Isaiah repeatedly presents the Lord as Creator and the earth as His carefully ordered work:

• “I have made the earth, and created man upon it.” (Isaiah 45:12)

• “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof” is echoed in Isaiah’s language of the Lord’s ownership and care (see also Psalm 24:1).
  

This aligns with the Copper Records’ repeated emphasis that:

• The earth is formed by prayer and divine intention.

• Humanity is created last, as stewards within an already living, sacred world.
  

Sin and Its Impact on the Land

Isaiah, like the Copper Records, links human disobedience with cosmic and ecological consequences:

• “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” (Isaiah 24:5)

• The result is mourning land, languishing vineyards, and withering joy (Isaiah 24:4–7).

The Copper Records similarly describe:

• The earth yielding thorns, pests, and hardship because of human disobedience (Ch. 11).

• The Tree of Knowledge becoming a tree of confusion, bearing fruit out of season and cursing the ground around it (Ch. 11, 12).
  

Both texts teach that sin is not merely private; it disturbs the whole fabric of creation.

A Chosen People and a “Good Way”

Isaiah speaks of a people called to walk in the Lord’s paths:

• “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord… and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:3)

• Israel is called to be “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6).
  

The Copper Records echo this:

• Mide names his path Midewiwin, “the way of kindness,” and asks that his children be blessed if they follow it (Ch. 7).

• The Great Spirit promises that the Anishinaabe who remain faithful will be chosen among the nations:
  

  “Teach your children to live the good way and to follow the seven sacred laws so that they become chosen among all the nations that will arise.” (Ch. 12)
  

Isaiah and the Copper Records both envision a covenant people whose faithfulness blesses the nations.

The Promise of a Deliverer and a Renewed Creation

Isaiah’s most cherished prophecies center on a coming Deliverer and a renewed world:

• A child born, a son given, called “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6).

• A shoot from the stem of Jesse, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests, who will judge with righteousness and bring peace so profound that “the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:1–9).

• A suffering servant who bears our griefs and carries our sorrows (Isaiah 53).

• A proclamation of good tidings to the meek, binding up the brokenhearted, and liberty to the captives (Isaiah 61:1–3).

• A “new heavens and a new earth” where “the former shall not be remembered” (Isaiah 65:17).
  

The Copper Records parallel this hope:

• The Great Spirit promises to come in person as a deliverer to correct the wrongs of Mide and Ode’imin and allow their family to return to the garden (Ch. 12).

• There is an expectation of an eighth era of restoration, when the garden and its people will be renewed (Ch. 10).

• Those who return to the good way will find forgiveness and restoration (Ch. 10, 12).
  

For watching Saints, these converging witnesses point to a Great Peacemaker, Yahoshua who would later be called in Europe Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer, who:

• Organized the earth under the Father’s direction (John 1:1–3).

• Took upon Himself flesh, suffering, and death.

• Rose again to break the bands of death and hell.

• Will come again to renew the earth in its paradisiacal glory (Articles of Faith 1:10).

  
  

5. Our Day: Stewardship, Agency, and the Good Way

The Copper Records are not just an ancient curiosity. They speak directly to our present moment.

Stewardship in a Time of Crisis

We live in a day when:

• Land, water, and air are under unprecedented strain.

• Indigenous communities often bear disproportionate burdens of environmental damage.

• The language of “dominion” is sometimes misused to justify exploitation rather than stewardship.
  

The Copper Records remind us:

• We are formed of the earth and bound to it.

• Our calling is to steward, not to consume without thought.

• All living beings—“animate and inanimate”—are part of a sacred web of life to which we owe kindness.
  

Agency: The Power to Bless or Break

The Copper Records show how free will can be used to:

• Align with the Creator’s will and bring forth kindness and abundance.

• Or oppose that will, leading to confusion, suffering, and alienation.
  

We face similar choices:

• In how we treat the land and its resources.

• In how we treat each other—especially the poor, the marginalized, and those of other cultures and faiths.

• In how we respond to revealed truth—whether with humility or with pride.
  

The Book of Mormon warns that when people prosper, they are often tempted to forget the Lord and oppress others (see Helaman 12). The Copper Records foresee that descendants born under condemnation may return to the garden with greed and conquest, harming the very people and place that were meant to be a blessing (Ch. 11–12).

Returning to the Good Way

For both the Copper Records and Isaiah, the path forward is clear:

• Remember who you are: children of divine parents, formed of earth and spirit.

• Repent where you have misused your agency.

• Return to the good way—the way of kindness, justice, humility, and reverence.

• Renew your covenants with God and your commitments to His creation.
  

Isaiah invites:

“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near… let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts… and he will have mercy upon him.” (Isaiah 55:6–7)

The Copper Records echo:

“If those born under judgment return to the good way, they will find forgiveness.” (Ch. 10)

That work is not only about individual salvation; it is about the healing of all creation—a renewed earth, a reconciled human family, and a restored relationship with our Heavenly Parents.

Conclusion: Men Are Friends in the Heavens

The Copper Records begin with a striking declaration:

“Men are friends in the heavens.”Ishpiming a'aw Ininiwag wiijiiwaaganag

This is a profound statement of identity and destiny. We are not accidents of dust and time. We are:

• Children of divine Parents.

• Stewards of a living earth.

• Bearers of agency that can either wound or heal.

• Recipients of a Redeemer’s promise.
  

Genesis, Isaiah, the Book of Mormon, and the Copper Records all converge on this central truth:

The Creator’s purpose is to bring us back into full friendship and unity with Him, with each other, and with all creation.

Our task in this generation is to:

• Honor that purpose.

• Walk the good way.

• Treat the earth and one another as sacred trusts.

• Request Forgiveness and receive the Compassion of a fair Creator
  

As we do, we join a chorus of ancient and modern witnesses—from the Land of Compassion to the Great Lakes, from Jerusalem to Zarahemla—testifying that the Lord remembers His covenants, restores His people, and will, in His time, make all things new.