Doctoral Dissertation Research: Genetic impacts of European colonization on ancient and modern Native American populations

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

The population history of First Nations people cannot be fully understood without knowing the genetic effects of European colonization, including whether these effects differed for indigenous men versus women. In this doctoral dissertation project, the student co-PI will study a population of First Nations people through time by comparing DNA diversity of contemporary community members to those of their ancestors from archaeological sites. Using both maternal (mitochondrial) and paternal (Y-chromosome) DNA for modern and ancient samples will provide information on the genetic diversity and structure before and after European colonization and identify effects that differed for males and females. This project will support graduate student training and mentoring, including experience as teaching assistants for the genomic lab portion of the SING (Summer internship for INdigenous peoples in Genomics) workshop where indigenous peoples learn how to use genomics as a tool and form a network of indigenous scientists. Using a community based approach, this project completes research in a collaborative way with indigenous communities, resulting in more accurate information and enhanced scholarship. Researchers have speculated about the demographic effects of European colonization, the population genetic structure of Native Americans pre-contact, the amount of European admixture and the estimates of the number of indigenous Americans present pre-contact. It has been difficult to quantify these demographic changes because there are no published datasets with large numbers of ancient individuals and their descendants. In this project, mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA data will be combined with existing archaeological information and documented oral histories to infer the effects of European Colonization on males and females in the ancient Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH) population and modern descendants. The researchers hypothesize that the effects of European colonization will be greater for men than women because of differences in activity patterns and admixture. The large sample size present in the PRH population, in addition to the long-term continual habitation in the coastal area, provides a unique dataset to use as comparative data for other researchers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.