Genomic analyses correspond with deep persistence of peoples of Blackfoot Confederacy from glacial times

An article by Dr. François Lanoë (SoA Professor) and Maria Zedeno (SoA Professor), “Genomic analyses correspond with deep persistence of peoples of Blackfoot Confederacy from glacial times” was published in Science Advances. You can download the paper from this link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adl6595.

Abstract: Mutually beneficial partnerships between genomics researchers and North American Indigenous Nations are rare yet becoming more common. Here, we present one such partnership that provides insight into the peopling of the Americas and furnishes another line of evidence that can be used to further treaty and aboriginal rights. We show that the genomics of sampled individuals from the Blackfoot Confederacy belong to a previously undescribed ancient lineage that diverged from other genomic lineages in the Americas in Late Pleistocene times. Using multiple complementary forms of knowledge, we provide a scenario for Blackfoot population history that fits with oral tradition and provides a plausible model for the evolutionary process of the peopling of the Americas.