He was historical, not prehistoric.

He lived in a world that, depending on where in that range he falls, might have included some awareness of European presence on the Pacific coast, and that certainly included sophisticated trade networks, complex social organization, and the full range of human experience.

The seventeen people identified through the DNA study are not straightforwardly his descendants.

They are people who share a maternal ancestor with him — a specific and meaningful relationship, but not necessarily direct descent in the genealogical sense.

The distinction matters for both scientific accuracy and cultural appropriateness.