Advances in DNA collection and analysis techniques have had a profound impact on anthropology and archeology, revealing surprising things about the genetic connections between modern and ancient humans. In the latest example of this intriguing phenomenon, a team of genetic scientists has teamed up with representatives of the indigenous Blackfoot people to discover unexpected connections between the modern-day Blackfoot people and some of the earliest inhabitants of the Americas. We have just completed research to establish the
“The genomics of individuals from the Blackfoot Confederacy indicate that they belong to a previously undescribed ancient lineage that diverged from other genomic lineages in the Americas during the late Pleistocene,” scientists said. said Native American colleagues in a paper published in the same journal. Science progresses. “Using multiple complementary forms of knowledge, we provide a scenario of Blackfoot population history that fits the oral tradition and provides a plausible model for the evolutionary process of the peoples of the Americas.”
Six Blackfoot chiefs painted by Paul Kane along the North Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan, Canada. (public domain)
Ancient history of the Blackfoot tribe
The ancient group related to the modern Blackfoot genome apparently arose during the ice age of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago. As the study authors noted, this is the first time this particular genetic lineage has been detected in Native American DNA, giving the Blackfoot a unique identity that distinguishes them from other existing Native American populations. There is.
Archaeological discoveries and oral histories show that the indigenous communities that make up the Blackfoot Confederate nations first established their traditional homelands in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada, and northern Montana, USA, more than 10,000 years ago. It suggests that it was occupied.
Legend has it that the ancestors of the Blackfoot followed herds of bison through deep valleys and along huge lakes created by receding glaciers during the last Ice Age. This new DNA-based evidence certainly supports such claims, linking the Blackfoot to a very early stage in the evolution of modern Native American populations, before the glaciers began melting.
Bison hunting was integral to the culture of the Blackfoot people who hunted bison. “Hunting Buffalo” by Alfred Jacob Miller. (public domain)
Rare Blackfoot DNA reveals unique evolutionary history
For the purpose of this new study, researchers collected saliva samples and accompanying DNA from six Blackfoot survivors. These people were specifically from the Blood Tribe/Kainai group, now based in southern Alberta.
In addition, they received permission from the Blackfoot Tribal Historic Preservation Office to collect DNA samples from the remains of four Blackfoot ancestors held in their custody. They were also allowed to extract DNA from the remains of three Blackfoot ancestors held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Based on radiocarbon dating, all of these deceased are thought to have lived between 100 and 200 years ago.
After completing a comparative analysis of the old and new DNA of the Blackfoot people, the genetic scientists involved in the study concluded that they all belong to the same genetic lineage. The study helped demonstrate that these “genomic patterns are based on the traditional Blackfoot Confederate homeland at the time of European contact.”
But the scientist and his Native American colleagues wanted to dig deeper into the genetic history of the Blackfoot people. The idea was to once again complete a comparative analysis of genetic material, but this time the study combined both ancient and modern Blackfoot DNA from other Native American peoples separated in time and space from the Blackfoot people. We decided to compare it with the collected genetic samples. This will help determine the relationship between Blackfoot ancestors and other indigenous peoples.
Painting of a Blackfoot warrior by Karl Bodmer, circa 1840.public domain)
Analysis of ancestral connections between the Blackfeet and other indigenous peoples
Existing genetic databanks have identified ancient lineages that are associated with all modern Native Americans. The goal of the new study was to discover when the Blackfoot lineage diverged from its common ancestral group. To their surprise, the researchers found that the Blackfoot genetic lineage dates back to about 16,000 BC, or at the end of the last great ice age.
The Blackfoot people were thought to have genetic ties to some of their traditional neighbors in southern Canada and the northern United States. However, the Blackfoot language is often compared to other indigenous languages in the region, particularly those spoken by the various Algonquian peoples who occupied the eastern Great Lakes region and grouped under the label Central Algonquian. It has long been known that there is little overlap.
It is now known that the ancestors of the modern Blackfoot people descended from a previously undiscovered separate genetic lineage, making it difficult to identify them as a distinct people with their own history. Now it's much easier.
“Certain elements of the Blackfoot language are older than Proto-Algonquin and were likely spoken by Native peoples in the Blackfoot Confederacy's Native American homeland,” the study authors explained in their paper. scientific progress article. “This discovery challenges the traditional anthropological assumption that the Blackfoot language (and by extension its speakers) originated in the Great Lakes of North America, where the Algonquian language family is said to have evolved.”
The study authors found that the Blackfeet's ancestors did not migrate from the east, but rather traveled from the west to what became recognized as their traditional homeland on the Northwest Plains (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and (Montana).
Genetic evidence and land rights: Does it make a difference?
The Blackfoot Nation has had many disputes with both the United States and Canadian governments over treaties and land use rights, some of which continue to this day. The research team behind this new genetic study hopes that its findings may help substantiate some of the Blackfoot Confederacy's historic sovereignty claims.
“The DNA study also provides the Blood Nation/Kainai with a new body of evidence that will help further advance treaty and Indigenous rights,” study authors said in a statement posted in an online publication. science.
But Kim Talbear, a professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Alberta who was not involved in the new study, wonders how much impact these genetic results could have on long-running disputes with government agencies. I'm not sure about that. “We know Indigenous people were here before settlers,” he said. “It's not a foregone conclusion that adding genetic information to what we already know about the history of the indigenous peoples of the Americas will make a huge difference.”
Top image: An image of a Blackfoot chief created using AI. sauce: Christian / Adobe Stock
Written by Nathan Falde
