The use of genetic data in forensic science, demographic and population history, archaeology, and a variety of other disciplines has been one of the most rewarding advances in recent times. Allowing for a level of detail and traceability not found in the other methods used by these disciplines, genetic data has provided a wealth of information on population movements, cultural histories, genealogy, and on and on. In fact, the use of genetics to study population history has recently reached a milestone with the study of large genome-wide data sets that provide a wealth of information concerning contemporary and historic population relationships. However, it is not without its faults and limitations, especially when used to understand cultural affiliation among indigenous groups, such as Native American Indians. In studies of cultural affiliation between contemporary and prehistoric populations, for example, there is a dependence on much smaller-scaled data, typically from either the mitochondrial genome of the female or the Y chromosome of the male. Similarly, the datasets from these prehistoric populations is often small and spans a wide chronological or geographic range.

http://www.bauuinstitute.com/Articles/GeneticDataAffiliationNatives.html