The communities involved were informed about what the analysis would involve, what it might reveal, and what would be done with the remains after the analysis was complete.

The findings from the USR1 analysis have been received with a range of responses by Athabascan communities and by the broader community of Indigenous scholars working in North America.

Some have expressed the view that the findings — particularly the confirmation that the Ancient Beringians were genetically Native American, not a separate non-Native group — support Indigenous claims to ancient and continuous presence in the region.

Others have raised questions about the appropriateness of genetic research on ancient remains, about the control of genetic data derived from Indigenous ancestors, and about the ways in which scientific categories like Ancient Beringian risk flattening and misrepresenting the complexity of Indigenous history.