A scientific first used a new method to examine fragments from long-dead people to analyze family lineages. DNA extracted from the hair of Sitting Bull confirmed the ancestry of his living great-grandson.
DNA from the hair of Sitting Bull confirms his living great-grandson
A new scientific technique is promising wide-reaching possibilities for identification with DNA.
In a “breakthrough” that has taken nearly a decade and a half of research, scientists have developed a method that can extract DNA from long-dead individuals through hair, bones, and teeth and can establish a familial relationship with a living person.
Established methods of DNA analysis were unable to work with the very small amount of DNA in the hair. That’s what prompted scientists to develop a new method, an endeavor that would take 14 years.
The technique was developed by scientists who were led by Eske Willerslev, a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Cambridge, and the director of the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre at the University of Cambridge, Reuters reported.
The scientists used “autosomal DNA,” a non-sex-specific DNA people inherit from both their mother and father, NBC reported.
The successful identification marks the first time DNA from a long-dead person has been used to demonstrate the familial relationship between a historical figure and a living individual.
73-year-old man identified as great-grandson of Sitting Bull through DNA
Sitting Bull was the leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota, also known as the Teton Sioux. He is believed to have been born in 1831 and is probably one of the most iconic Native American leaders, and for a time worked as a performer with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. He was killed by Indian Agency Police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him on December 15, 1890
Sitting Bull’s hair has been stored at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Using the DNA extracted from the hair of Sitting Bull, scientists traced the family lineage to 73-year-old Ernie LaPointe of Lead, South Dakota. They determined that LaPointe is the great-grandson and closest living descendent of the Lakota leader.
Grandson seeks to recover Sitting Bull’s remains
LaPointe has been involved in a long-standing battle to move Sitting Bull’s remains to a location with more cultural relevance to the Lakota leader than the current burial site in Mobridge, South Dakota.
Professor Willerslev contacted LaPointe, telling him of an opportunity to use DNA to prove his ancestry.
“I reached out because I’m an ancient DNA researcher,” he said. “I told LaPointe, ‘If you want to do this, I think I can help you.'”
Technique has wide-ranging possibilities
The same technique could be applied to other high-profile individuals and genealogical studies.
In principle, you could investigate whoever you want — from outlaws like Jesse James to the Russian tsar’s family, the Romanovs,” Willerslev said in a statement. “If there is access to old DNA – typically extracted from bones, hair or teeth – they can be examined in the same way.”
