Doctoral Dissertation: Ancient mtDNA Analysis on the Columbia Plateau: Implications for a Proto-Algonquian Homeland

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

Interest and research in the peopling of the Americas and post-colonization population movements of Native Americans have experienced resurgence among anthropologists. This is in part due to advances in molecular biological technology that have allowed many long-standing hypotheses, based on archaeological and linguistic evidence, to be addressed for the first time using genetic evidence. Within the last decade, advances in automation of the Polymerse Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification have complimented the development of methods for the extraction and analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from prehistoric bone, allowing researchers to genetically characterize ancient Native American populations. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggest that prehistoric population movements in North America were widespread and common. Therefore many contemporary Native American populations occupy a different geographical region from their ancestors. NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) bases repatriation of unearthed Native American bones on cultural affiliation and geographic location. Unfortunately, many Native American prehistoric remains are found with no cultural artifacts and therefore cannot be accurately repatriated. Genetic testing and analysis of modern and ancient Native American populations will allow accurate repatriation of Native American remains, even if a tribe's ancestral population migrated to their current location from a long distance away. Based on linguistic and archaeological evidence, Edward Sapir and Peter Denny argue that the ancestors of the majority of Native Americans in the Eastern U.S. (Algonquian speakers) are located in the Pacific Northwest and migrated to their current location approximately 4000 ybp. Native Americans belong to one of five matrilines (haplogropus A,B,C,D,or X) and these matrilines can be identified through restriction or sequence analysis of the mitochondrial genome. The distribution of these matrilines varies among Native American populations but appear to be regionally and temporally stable. The frequency of these matrilines in a population can distinguish among Native American tribes. Native American populations of the Pacific Northwest are almost entirely haplogroups B and D while populations in the Northeast are mainly haplogroups A, C, and X. This project proposes to identify the mtDNA haplogroup distribution of ancient populations (2500 ybp and 6500 ybp) in a region of the Pacific Northwest that has cultural affinities with the Eastern U.S. Because the haplogroup frequency distribution of the populations in the Pacific Northwest and the Eastern U.S. differ so greatly, identification of ancestor/descendant relationships among these ancient populations is favorable. This research will also address issues concerning the peopling of the Americas, migration theory, and regional prehistory in western North America.