DNA from Sitting Bull’s hair confirms US man is his great-grandson

Study is the first time DNA from a long-dead person was used to demonstrate a familial link between a living individual and a historical figure

A sample of Sitting Bull's hair has helped scientists confirm that a South Dakota man is the famed 19th-century Native American leader's great-grandson using a new method to analyse family lineages with DNA fragments from long-dead people.

Researchers said on Wednesday that DNA extracted from the hair, which had been stored at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, confirmed the familial relationship between Sitting Bull, who died in 1890, and Ernie LaPointe, 73, of Lead, South Dakota.