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A suspected Indian status scam that told a man he shared genetic ancestry with a dog should serve as a reminder of the perils of DNA testing for Indigenous ancestry, says an Edmonton researcher.
Kim TallBear, the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience and Environment, said she has long been wary of DNA testing for Indigenous heritage.
DNA testing may be the future of genealogy, but it should not define a person's Indigenous identity, the University of Alberta scholar said Thursday in an interview on CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
People excited to learn about their roots won't find all the answers they're looking for inside a test tube, TallBear cautioned.
"I don't want to help them make money doing what I think is stupid science," said the author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science.
"It's not that it's bad science but I don't think it should inform how we identify as Native people."
Viaguard's DNA testing determined Snoopy has 20 per cent Indigenous ancestry — 12 per cent Abenaki and eight per cent Mohawk. (Louis Côté)
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