A Lock Of Sitting Bull’s Hair Was Tested More Than A Century Later – And The DNA Confirmed A Family Claim

It was a scientific study undertaken with the family’s participation and consent.

But its reception — the extent to which the published result was treated as confirming what the family had said, as if confirmation were what was needed — reflects the deeper dynamic.

A result that said “the DNA is consistent with the family relationship” was treated by much of the coverage as stronger evidence than the generations of family memory and documentary records that had preceded it.

Ernie LaPointe has spoken publicly about this dimension of the story.