Someone — or more likely a group of people — had to explain to community members what was being proposed, what the DNA test could and could not establish, what would be done with the results, and why participating was a meaningful act rather than simply providing material to scientists.

The governance framework of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the trust that framework had earned through its conduct of the research provided the institutional foundation for this community engagement.

The scale of participation — 240 volunteers from multiple communities across a broad geographic area — reflects a level of community investment in the question of connection to Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi that goes beyond what any scientific institution could have generated through conventional research recruitment.

People participated because they cared about the answer in the specific way that members of a community care about questions that touch their collective identity and history.