The Smithsonian’s repatriation of Sitting Bull’s hair and leggings is one data point in this broader landscape.

The investigation that found the taking had lacked proper authority was conducted under a framework that requires institutions to examine how their collections were acquired — a form of accountability that was simply absent for most of the century those objects spent in museum custody.

The subsequent DNA study, conducted with the family’s consent and participation, represents a different kind of intersection between science and repatriation.

Rather than scientific research being used to resist or delay repatriation — the pattern that has sometimes characterized ancient DNA research in other contexts — the research here was conducted after repatriation, by researchers working with the family, in service of goals that the family had helped define.