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

That living historical consciousness is, ultimately, the context that gives meaning to all the other dimensions of the story.

The science mattered.

The repatriation mattered.

The legal frameworks mattered.

And all of them existed within a larger context of a people’s relationship to their own history — a relationship that no external institution created and that no external institution can fully understand.

What Changed and What Did Not

The return of Sitting Bull’s hair and leggings to his family in 2007, and the subsequent DNA study that supported the family’s identity as his direct descendants, changed some things and did not change others.

Being clear about the distinction is important for understanding what the story means.