What remained in the scientific record was the genomic data — the sequenced genome that had been published in Nature, which is now part of the permanent scientific literature and can be analyzed and reanalyzed by researchers anywhere in the world who have access to the public databases where such data are deposited.

This is one of the enduring complexities of ancient genome research: the data outlasts the material.

The child was reburied, but his genetic sequence persists in digital form, available for future researchers to compare against future discoveries, to reanalyze with future computational methods, to place in the context of future ancient genomes that have not yet been found.

This persistence raises genuine ethical questions that have not been fully resolved.

The consent that Native communities gave to the original research was consent for that specific project and its specific questions.