iScience
Volume 26, Issue 5, 19 May 2023, 106581
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Article
A paleogenome from a Holocene individual supports genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106581Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • We obtained genomic data from a ∼3,000-year-old female from Southeast Alaska

  • With community engagement, the individual was named Tatóok yík yées sháawat (TYYS)

  • TYYS is most closely related to the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast

  • The Saqqaq (Paleo-Inuit) genome may harbor Northern Native American ancestry

Summary

Many specifics of the population histories of the Indigenous peoples of North America remain contentious owing to a dearth of physical evidence. Only few ancient human genomes have been recovered from the Pacific Northwest Coast, a region increasingly supported as a coastal migration route for the initial peopling of the Americas. Here, we report paleogenomic data from the remains of a ∼3,000-year-old female individual from Southeast Alaska, named Tatóok yík yées sháawat (TYYS). Our results demonstrate at least 3,000 years of matrilineal genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska, and that TYYS is most closely related to ancient and present-day northern Pacific Northwest Coast Indigenous Americans. We find no evidence of Paleo-Inuit (represented by Saqqaq) ancestry in present-day or ancient Pacific Northwest peoples. Instead, our analyses suggest the Saqqaq genome harbors Northern Native American ancestry. This study sheds further light on the human population history of the northern Pacific Northwest Coast.

Subject areas

Genomics
Human Genetics
Paleobiology

Data and code availability

  • To promote responsible access to genomic data from Indigenous communities, including Ancestors, the raw sequence and mapped data are available upon request from the corresponding author and review of its use by the Wrangell Cooperative Association tribal council and completion of a Data Use Agreement.

  • No new code was generated in this study.

  • Any additional information required to reanalyze the data reported in this paper is available from the lead contact upon request.

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