Northwest coast British Columbia
Science doesn’t always
have it right. Often we hear ‘scientists
are baffled’ about something or other, ‘fish quota misjudged’, and ‘scientists perplexed
by new findings’. Sometimes science does
get it right, such as with climate change and the latest DNA research. The latter is what this post is about. “Breakthrough DNA study links British Columbia
woman with 5,500-year old ancestor.’” 
Anthropologists from the US and Canada have traced a direct DNA
link between the 5,500-year-old remains of an aboriginal woman (plus a second
set of ancient female bones from a nearby 2,500-year-old site) and a living Tsimshian woman from the
Metlakatla First Nation, located near Prince Rupert. She has the same DNA as her 5,500-year old
ancestor over two hundred generations in the past.
Anthropologist Ripan Malhi of the University of
Illinois and colleagues looked at mitochondrial
DNA, which helps direct how the cellular powerhouses called mitochondria
generate energy in the body. We learned that mitochondrial DNA passes along only through the mother and that the Tsimshian-speaking
Metlakatla people of this study have a matrilineal culture so an even clearer
picture was created over the generations. Of course their oral traditions speak
of being here in the region since untold time, but this new research proves ties
to five millennia ago.
Flying Frog Headpiece, Tsimshian
Not that this is something new to us, we know
the First Nations people were here first, otherwise we wouldn’t call them
First. (Incredibly from time to time we
come across indifference, ignorance or ill will about who were the original
inhabitants.) This groundbreaking study only goes to emphasize the difference
between the time of Europeans and First Nations’ being here. Europeans only
arrived in BC around the mid-1700’s. A
great contrast, “a whale to a sardine”. (We
live in an apartment in a house built in 1887 and the locals consider this to
be ancient.) "Having a DNA link showing direct maternal ancestry dating back at
least 5,000 years is huge as far as helping the Metlakatla prove that this
territory was theirs over the millennia," said Barbara Petzelt, liaison
to the Tsimshian-speaking Metlakatla community (and co-author of the study).
Tsimshian shamanic charm
It’s
curious, there is nothing about this discovery in the major paper here on
Vancouver Island, you’d think it would be on the front page, someone who lives
nearby just up the coast near Prince Rupert: a First Nations woman, who has the exact same
DNA as found in a her 5,500-year old ancestor ‘grandmother’ – all thanks to
scientific advances in DNA study. Now that
is news!
Henri van Bentum
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