NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Objective(s): To use genetic analyses on the ancient mandible to better understand the genetic history of human populations in Banks Island, specifically, and in Arctic North America more broadly.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5904. The Archeo- and Paleogenetics research group at the University of Tübingen aims at implementing genetic analyses on the ancient mandible to better understand the genetic history of human populations in Banks Island specifically and in Arctic North America more broadly. We wish to extract ancient DNA from the mandible to reconstruct the genetic ancestry of the Umingmak individual, identify its origins and admixture with other North American populations, and the genetic contribution its ancestry had to later groups in the Arctic region. This research would provide additional insights into the already rich and complex history of the People of the Arctic and Northern Canada. Our primary goal is to study the population dynamics of the region over time, and we do not envision our research to have medical relevance for present-day populations. In addition, researchers at the University of Tübingen wish to initiate a discussion to identify the appropriate procedures for the repatriation of the Umingmak human mandible if desired by and in agreement with the responsible entities. This project combines established molecular biology techniques with state-of-the-art computational approaches to be implemented on the human mandible. For ancient DNA analyses, we will not perform a new sampling of the mandible but, instead, we plan to use the bone powder that is leftover from the previous dating investigation (Bocherens et al. 2016). The ancestral remains will also be microCT, surface scanned and photographed to create a high-resolution record and preserve its anatomical information. In dedicated ancient DNA facilities at the University of Tübingen the DNA will be extracted from the existing bone powder and then sequenced to evaluate its DNA preservation by inspecting the typical damage pattern, short fragment length and the percentage of endogenous human DNA. Afterwards, the DNA will be processed with an in-solution capture protocol to enrich for over a million markers across the human genome as well as shotgun sequenced to reach complete genomic coverage. The researchers have initiated communication with Letitia Pokiak (MA Anthropology) to gain insights into current customs and practices of local communities in Banks Island. In addition, the research team plans to start interactions with the Sachs Harbor communities via contacts provided by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. This communication has the primary goal to clearly present the objectives and methodologies. Interactions involve discussions of the reciprocal benefits of the proposed research project, through a bidirectional educational process, and the collective exploration of the preferred means of result communication and dissemination (i.e., through videos, podcasts, posters, booklets translated in Inuvialuktun and English, etc.). Towards the end of the investigation, the researchers plan to visit to Banks Island to share what was learned from the project, prior to the preparation of the manuscript for publication. In case of interest, further community involvement beyond this exchange will be made possible. Specifically, contacts will be exchanged to aid direct communication during the research process and local members of the communities will be offered authorship in the resulting research papers. During this time, the communities’ knowledge and opinions will be sought and considered for result interpretation and the local youth will be involved in the production of material for result communication. Such efforts will also aid the appropriate dissemination of obtained results. This process respects the richness of community-based knowledge and largely enriches the research process. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: May 31 - December 31, 2024