Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Scientists have confirmed that Sitting Bull is the great-grandson of the 19th-century Native American leader. They used a unique method to analyse family lines using DNA fragments taken from long-deceased people.

According to researchers, DNA from Sitting Bull’s hair was confirmed by scientists on Wednesday. The hair had been kept at the Smithsonian Institution.

LaPointe said, “I believe DNA research is an additional way to identify my lineal relationship with my great-grandfather.” She has three siblings. Since I can recall, people have been asking questions about our relationship with our ancestor. These people will be a bother in any place that you are sitting – and they’ll doubt your findings.

The first time DNA was extracted from remains of long-dead individuals in a study to show a relationship between two living people and one historical figure is now possible.

Eske Willerslev from the University of Cambridge, who is the director of Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre (University of Cambridge), devised the new method.

It took the researchers 14 years to find a method to extract useful DNA from hair. The hair was stored at room temperatures for 14 years before it was given to LaPointe by Smithsonian in 2007.

Willerslev stated that he had read about Sitting Bull being re-shorn by the Smithsonian in a magazine and reached out for LaPointe.

Willerslev is the senior author of Science Advances’ research. “I extracted very little hair, and the DNA was extremely limited. We had to spend a lot of time trying to develop a way that could be compared with living humans across many generations.

This new technique was based on autosomal DNA found in genetic fragments taken from hair. Traditional DNA analysis includes specific DNA from the Ychromosome that is passed on to the male line, or DNA found in mitochondria (powerhouses of cells – passed on from mothers and children). Instead of being gender-specific, autosomal genetic DNA does not discriminate.

Willerslev explained that while there had been other ways to do this, they either required large quantities of DNA or restricted the ability to reach grandchildren’s level. It is now possible to build deeper, more lasting family relationships with tiny amounts of DNA using our method.

Sitting Bull (whose Lakota name is Tatanka Iyotanka) helped to bring together Sioux tribes from the Great Plains, against white settlers who took tribal land, and U.S. military troops trying to drive Native Americans out of their territories. At the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, in Montana (now the U.S.), he led Native American soldiers that defeated the federal troops of George Custer.

Sitting Bull has two official burial places. One at Fort Yates (North Dakota) and one at Mobridge (South Dakota). LaPointe claimed that the Fort Yates burial site does not contain any remains from his great-grandfather.

LaPointe indicated that DNA can be used to identify Mobridge’s remains as an ancestor, and suggested the possibility of moving them to another site.