With genetic material from plait
Thanks to new DNA analysis: Researchers identify great-grandchildren of the legendary chief Sitting Bull
The scientists examined the autosomal DNA from a braid of Chief Sitting Bull and then developed a calculation method to compare it with the DNA of the descendants
© Eske Willerslev. / University of Cambridge / AFP
It would be a scientific sensation: a new DNA technique has probably been the first to use genetic material to prove a family relationship between a historical personality and his living offspring.
Thanks to a new DNA technique, a great-grandson of the famous indigenous tribal chief Sitting Bull has been identified. A research team led by Eske Willerslev from Cambridge University and the Lundbeck Foundation Geogenetics Center in Denmark presented the new method on Wednesday in the journal “Science Advances”. It is therefore the first time that genetic material can be used to demonstrate a family relationship between a historical personality and his living offspring.
According to Willerslev, he found a way to test the relationship using gender-specific “autosomal” DNA. The method could be used to identify the descendants of other historical figures, from the notorious bandit Jesse James to the Russian royal family. The requirement for this is merely a DNA sample from the deceased.
Sitting Bull’s braid provided DNA
In previous genetic studies, researchers are looking for matches between the DNA in the Y chromosome that is passed on in the male line. If the deceased was female, the DNA in the mitochondria is examined more closely. In the case of Sitting Bull, however, neither method could be used because it is a male ancestor who is related to his great-grandson on the maternal side.
In the current case, the scientists therefore examined autosomal DNA from a braid of the chief and then developed a calculation method to compare it with the DNA of the descendants and 13 other members of the Lakota Sioux tribe. The researchers checked whether similarities in the genome actually indicated a close relationship.
The great-grandson, whose relationship to the legendary tribal chief had often been questioned, had historical records such as the chief’s birth and death certificates, but was never able to definitively prove the relationship. He was looking for evidence of a genetic relationship so that he could bury the remains of his ancestor in another location.
Sitting Bull, whose real name was Tatanka-Iyotanka, led around 1,500 Lakota warriors to the famous Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. The indigenous people killed the US General George Armstrong Custer and his five companies. The chief was shot dead by police officers on behalf of the US government in 1890.