June 20, 2005 — DNA extracted from a tooth of a California Native American who died 800 to 1,000 years ago matches that of a woman now living in approximately the same region as her early ancestor, according to scientists who conducted the research.

The finding bolsters the theory that many modern Native American populations have direct ties to prehistoric North American inhabitants.

It also suggests that the Vanyume tribe, to which the modern woman belongs, has occupied the same region continuously for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.

While technology has made DNA matching possible, finding links over centuries-long periods is like looking for the proverbial needle in a genetic haystack.

"This kind of testing of archaeological materials is comparatively new and often samples do not yield DNA that is well enough preserved to be sequenced,"said Phillip Walker, a University of California at Santa Barbara anthropologist who led the study.

"The data we have on living people of California Indian ancestry is also limited, so this further reduces the chance of finding such a match."

Walker, who now is working on a paper outlining the research, began the project after a construction crew happened upon a Native American burial site while preparations were underway for a 5,000-home development near the city of Palmdale.

The remains of six people were found buried at the site, which the deceased and their tribal members originally may have inhabited because of the location's earlier prevalence of juniper berries.

The scientists also found more than 1,000 shell beads with the human remains. Such beads usually adorned sashes worn by early Native Americans of high social status.

Researchers extracted and sequenced mitochondrial DNA from a tooth taken from one set of remains. This form of DNA passes from mothers to their children and changes little over the years.

While the researchers were able to determine that the person died between the ages of 20 to 35, they are unsure of the individual's sex or cause of death.

The mtDNA was compared with an existing databank of comparable sequences for modern Native Americans.

One woman, Donna Yocum, was found to have mtDNA that perfectly matches that of the ancient remains. The DNA of Yocum's great aunt, Lyda Manriquez, who has since died, also matched the early Californian's.

Yocum, a member of the Mojave Desert Vanyume tribe, was thrilled by the discovery, but also saddened that a Native American burial site had been disturbed.

The Vanyume tribe is one of three groups that make up the San Fernando Mission Indians. Members hope to gain federal recognition as a sovereign nation and to build a cultural center in the nearby city of Santa Clarita.

John Johnson, curator of anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, has studied California Indian populations, with a particular focus on genetic ties, for more than a decade.

"It is highly significant that prehistoric burials found in the same general region — the Western Mojave Desert — match those from Donna and her great aunt because it shows the connection between the contemporary population and those who lived in the region in the past," he told Discovery News.

He added,"The Vanyume — also called 'Desert Serrano' because they once spoke the Serrano language — have probably occupied the Western Mojave Desert region for more than 1,000 years.

It is probable that speakers of Uto-Aztecan languages, including Serrano, were present in southern California for several thousands of years."