DNA Tracks Descendants of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian in Southeast Alaska

George Bryson wrote an interesting DNA-related article for the AP out of Anchorage, Alaska. I find it amazing as to how much we’re learning from all these DNA studies be undertaken. Following is a teaser from Bryson’s article:

An ancient mariner [On Your Knees Cave man, the 10,300-year-old Alaskan whose remains were discovered 12 years ago in a shallow cavern on Prince of Wales Island] who lived and died 10,000 years ago on an island west of Ketchikan probably doesn’t have any close relatives left in Alaska.

But some of them migrated south and their descendants can be found today in coastal Native American populations in California, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina.

That’s some of what scientists learned this summer by examining the DNA of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indians in Southeast Alaska.

Working with elders at a cultural festival in Juneau, they interviewed more than 200 Native Alaskans who allowed them to swab tiny amounts of saliva from their cheeks to capture their mitochondrial DNA, the genetic material that’s passed from mothers to children.

Read Brysons’ full article in the January 10, 2009 edition of News From Indian Country.

4 Replies to “DNA Tracks Descendants of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian in Southeast Alaska”

  1. The website is still under construction. But viewable.

    I am flying out to Dominican Republic and I was told by someone born there that there is a Tlingit and Haida Native connection to the island.

    Can you shed any light on that statement? If not can you direct me to somewhere that might.

    Denis

  2. Good morning. Are the DNA results referenced in this 2009 article accessible in any of the public repositories like GedMatch, Ancestry, or the like?

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