The federal government resisted because officials believed the evidence of affiliation was insufficient.

The tribe challenged that determination.

A court forced the government to reconsider.

Ancient DNA technology matured.

The tribe permitted testing.

The genome placed the individual firmly within Indigenous American ancestry.

The remains were repatriated.

The ancestor was reburied.

The story is often summarized as a mystery solved by DNA.

That is true only in the narrowest sense.