Study looks at genetic impact of European contact on First Nations
Genetic research has shed new light on what happened to indigenous people after European contact — and demonstrated just how long at least one group has inhabited their traditional lands.
A paper published Tuesday in Nature Communications used genetic material found in the collections of the Canadian Museum of History to conclude that the Lax Kw’alaams and Metlakatla First Nations near Prince Rupert, B.C., have been living in the same area for at least 6,000 uninterrupted years.
That same material also contained DNA that had evolved to help protect the people against disease from local pathogens, said lead author Ripan Malhi of the University of Illinois.
“We saw that there was signal of positive selection on this gene related to immunity,” he said.