It tells us something real about biological relationships that extend across ten thousand years.

But genetic ancestry is not the same as cultural identity.

A person’s DNA does not determine their language, their ceremonial obligations, their specific community membership, their clan affiliations, or the specific practices and beliefs that define their cultural belonging.

These dimensions of identity are transmitted through learning, through participation in community life, through the specific relationships of family and community — not through biology.

This distinction is important for understanding both what the Spirit Cave DNA findings actually showed and what they could not show.