When the ancient DNA team approached the Anzick project, they made consultation with Native communities a central part of the research process rather than an afterthought.

They worked with the Crow tribe and with Shane Doyle, a Crow tribal member who served as a cultural liaison for the project, to ensure that the research was conducted in a manner consistent with Native community values and that the disposition of the remains was determined in partnership with the communities who had ancestral connections to the child.

The result of this consultation process was that the Anzick child was ultimately repatriated — reburied in a ceremony attended by members of multiple Native American tribes, conducted according to Native American cultural and spiritual practices.

The reburial took place in 2014, following the completion of the ancient DNA analysis and the publication of the research results.