According to John Sorenson, the passing down of Jaredite names like Morianton, Nehor, Korihor, and Coriantumr . . . and the transmission of maize already noted, further witness that Mulek's descendants had absorbed cultural and genetic elements from the Jaredite era. [John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting For the Book of Mormon, p. 214]
According to Michael Hobby, the fact that the Mulekites were deeply involved in Jaredite culture is obvious . . . the fact that they spoke the Jaredite tongue is evidenced by their personal and city names, names of coinage, etc. One direct example is the name Morianton [Mulekite] in Alma 50:25-36. There is also a Morianton [Jaredite] mentioned in Ether 10:9-13.
In all, as much as 30-40 percent of all Nephite/Mulekite names may have been Jaredite or contained one or more Jaredite elements. This could hardly have resulted from reading the record of a fallen people. [Michael M. Hobby, The Mulekite Connection, pp. 21-22]
Thus, one might ask, Could the contention between the people of Lehi and the people of Morianton have had cultural and religious overtones? We get a clue from what Mormon has to say about the intentions of the people of Morianton when they attempted to flee northward:
Now behold, the people who were in the land Bountiful, or rather [chief commander] Moroni, feared that they [the people of the land northward] would hearken to the words of Morianton and unite with his people, and thus he [Morianton] would obtain possession of those parts of the land, which would lay a foundation for serious consequences among the people of Nephi, yea, which consequences would lead to the overthrow of their liberty. (Alma 50:32)
The reader has to ponder if such "serious consequences" could result from just not having been allocated enough land to farm. I think the problem was a bit more complex, both culturally and religiously. One has to ponder the location of this story of Morianton (a Jaredite-Mulekite name) in the midst of political turmoil caused by the "king-men." [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]