And the misinterpretations matter, because they can be used to argue that the ancestry and historical claims of Indigenous South American peoples are more uncertain or more contested than the actual evidence supports.

The scientific evidence does not support any such conclusion.

The ancient people of Lagoa Santa were Native Americans.

The Indigenous people of South America today are the descendants of the people who have lived in the Americas since the first settlement.

The Population Y signal, whatever its ultimate explanation, does not change either of these facts.

What it does is indicate that the population history of the Americas was more complex than the simplest models suggested — which is itself a finding of genuine scientific and historical interest, independent of any implications for the specific cultural or legal claims of Indigenous peoples.

Why Studies Have Produced Different Results