The Anzick genome project represents, in many respects, a model of how this engagement can work when it is conducted with genuine commitment rather than as a procedural formality.

The researchers who conducted the genomic analysis worked with Native American communities from the beginning of the project, not as an afterthought after the scientific work was done.

The consultation shaped the research design, the communication of results, and ultimately the disposition of the remains.

The reburial ceremony — attended by members of multiple tribes, conducted in accordance with Native American spiritual and cultural practices, and treated as a genuine act of honoring an ancestor rather than as a scientific or administrative procedure — demonstrated that research and respect are not incompatible.

The Anzick project showed that ancient DNA research on Native American ancestors can be conducted in ways that honor those ancestors and that serve the interests of their descendants as well as the interests of science.