DNA from Sitting Bull's hair confirms US man is his great-grandson

[turbinetree]

A sample of Sitting Bull’s hair has helped scientists confirm that a South Dakota man is the famed 19th-century Native American leader’s great-grandson using a new method to analyse family lineages with DNA fragments from long-dead people.

Researchers said on Wednesday that DNA extracted from the hair, which had been stored at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, confirmed the familial relationship between Sitting Bull, who died in 1890, and Ernie LaPointe, 73, of Lead, South Dakota.

“I feel this DNA research is another way of identifying my lineal relationship to my great-grandfather,” said LaPointe, who has three sisters. “People have been questioning our relationship to our ancestor as long as I can remember. These people are just a pain in the place you sit - and will probably doubt these findings, also.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/28/dna-from-sitting-bulls-hair-confirms-us-man-is-his-great-grandson

[Wingus Dingus]

2. That is super cool.

[Hortensis]

3. "LaPointe, along with his sisters Marlene Little Spotted Horse Andersen,

From another source:

Ethel Little Spotted Horse Bates, and Lydia Little Spotted Horse Red Paint, have been petitioning the government for the reinterment of their ancestor's remains from a grave in South Dakota to the site of Sitting Bull's greatest vision: the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Sounds right to me. I didn't find mention of any children, and one source says the four are Sitting Bull's only known descendents.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. 'a pain in the place you sit'

what a polite man!

[Harker]

5. A pain in the couch?

Yes. Very polite.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. Or the toilet... nt

[Harker]

8. There you go.

So to speak.

[nuxvomica]

6. I am reminded of an episode of "Monk"

Where his therapist's teenage son screams, "You're not my father!" and the therapist screams back, "We've had three DNA tests and they all came back positive!"