DNA alone cannot define one’s identity and the frenzy for genetic testing threatens to undermine what Indigenous identity really means, says Kim Tallbear, a professor of native studies at the University of Alberta. By PJackson_NL SaltWire
All early eyewitness accounts of the Beothuk come from Europeans — and more specifically, from literate ones, often those born into privilege. Many fishermen and woodsmen at the time could not read or write.
Ryerson professor Christopher Aylward tracked several people in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia who claim to be descended from Beothuks for his documentary “The Beothuk Story.” Christopher Aylward for Glen Whiffen story. Keith Gosse/The Telegram Christopher Aylward is a film professor at the Ryerson School of Journalism. - Keith Gosse
But distinguishing Indigenous genes can be fraught with pitfalls, the main one being that it oversimplifies what constitutes native identity.a professor of native studies at the University of Alberta, sensed this almost 10 years ago when she wrote a book called “Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science.”
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