DNA Study Reveals Ancient 18,000-Year Lineage of Blackfoot Confederacy

Blackfoot Confederacy

A DNA study, published on April 3, 2024, in Science Advances, indicates that the Blackfoot Confederacy, which includes the Blackfeet, Kainai, Piikani, and Siksika tribes, has a lineage dating back 18,000 years. This research suggests that the current Indigenous populations in Montana and southern Alberta are descendants of people from the last ice age.

The study was conducted by researchers, including three Blackfoot Confederacy members, who analyzed the genetic history of their tribes. Historically, these tribes were nomadic hunters and fishers whose lands were later divided and restricted to reservations by the U.S. and Canadian governments in the 19th century.

To support land claims and water rights, and to contribute to the understanding of Indigenous genomic lineages, the Kainai Nation and the Blackfeet tribe collaborated with university scientists. They sequenced genomes from seven skeletons dated between 1805 and 1917 and from six modern tribal members. Despite suboptimal DNA preservation, mitochondrial DNA was obtained from all skeletons.

The results showed a significant genetic overlap between the historical and modern Blackfoot individuals, confirming a continuous lineage. The Blackfoot genetic line was found to be distinct from other Indigenous groups in North and South America. Statistical models suggest that the Blackfoot lineage diverged from other groups around 18,000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene.