They had watched the Kennewick case, which had been framed as a scientific question about human origins and which had resulted in their fellow Indigenous people’s ancestor being kept in a museum and studied for a decade against tribal wishes.

Willerslev worked to establish a different kind of relationship.

He visited the Tribe.

He met with community members.

He answered questions.

He made commitments: the research would be conducted with two Tribe members present in the laboratory when samples were taken; the Tribe would be kept informed throughout the process; if the DNA showed that Spirit Cave Man was genetically related to Native Americans, the remains would be returned to the Tribe for burial.

Crucially, the agreement included a specific commitment: the DNA results would be used to inform the NAGPRA cultural affiliation determination.