It reflected an understanding that Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi’s life had apparently crossed the cultural and geographic boundary between coastal and interior worlds, and that the people who might share his maternal lineage could come from communities on either side of that boundary.

The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Tlingit communities of the Alaska Panhandle, and various other First Nations and Alaska Native communities in the broader region were all represented among the volunteers.

The participation of more than 240 people in a DNA study of this kind is remarkable.

It reflects both the extraordinary nature of the discovery — the chance to find a biological connection to someone preserved from centuries past — and the trust that the community governance framework had established.

People participated because they understood the project, trusted that it was being conducted with appropriate cultural sensitivity and oversight, and wanted to know whether they might be connected to the man from the ice.