According to Wells Jakeman's analysis of the Stela 5 (Tree of Life) monument, there is a young man (fig. #3) seated in front of the old bearded man. (He is evidently young since he seems to have a small beard, and is probably of large stature and/or considerable importance, since he is shown larger than any of the other five; note especially the great size of his arms). He wears ear ornaments, and a complicated headdress with what seem to be leaves projecting backward and hanging down the back; and holds in his left hand a long pointed object, evidently a stylus or writing instrument, with which he appears to be recording what is being said about the tree. At the same time his right arm and hand are extended, in an apparent speaking gesture, towards one of the three other persons seated in front of the old man; while above him is held, by one of these other persons, what is quite clearly an umbrella or parasol (fig. #11). This person corresponds in character and role to Nephi of the Book of Mormon account.
In Mesoamerica, the umbrella--or "canopy"--held or placed above a seated ruler was regarded as a symbol of his rulership. Consequently, the more probable purpose was to indicate that the young man was not only the recorder of the discussion depicted here but also--surprisingly--a ruler (rather than the old priestly personage (Lehi) as might be expected) (p. 26). Incidentally, the umbrella was also a symbol of rulership in the ancient Near East as well as in eastern Asia, in the Old World (p. 27).
There is a rectangular object resting upon the ground panel in front of the large young man with the stylus. Its shape and position strongly indicate that it is a plate or tablet, upon which the young man is writing (p. 26). What we have here is the earliest discovered depiction in America of writing implements and the act of writing. In view of our dating of Stela 5 to the Late Preclassic period, this depiction also constitutes further archaeological evidence that hieroglyphic writing was in use in Mesoamerica in preclassic times (in addition to a growing body of actual hieroglyphic inscriptions dating from those times) (p. 34, 1958). [Wells Jakeman, Stela 5, Izapa, pp. 25-27, 34]