A U.S. researcher's collection of saliva samples, to help map the migration of North America's indigenous peoples, has raised concerns among some in the Northwest Territories about what would happen to their DNA.

Theodore Schurr from the University of Pennsylvania was in the territory's Beaufort Delta earlier this week to collect saliva samples from local aboriginal people for the Genographic Project, an international study to map out the history of human lineage over time.

"This project is basically sort of tapping into a basic human impulse to know more about ourselves as people and where we come from. And that motivates, I think, everyone to be involved in the project," Schurr told CBC News in Inuvik, N.W.T.

"It certainly motivates us scientists to be involved and to really understand … in my research group's case, the history of native American populations and their links to Siberian, indigenous Siberian populations."

Schurr and other researchers with the project, which is backed by the National Geographic Society, IBM and other major sponsors, are travelling to remote regions around the world to gather people's family histories and collect saliva swabs from inside people's mouths.

'It's my DNA'

But some in Inuvik have refused to participate, saying they don't want their DNA in the hands of others, said Ruth Wright, a local resident who was hired to recruit participants.

Some have told Wright, "'It's my DNA, I don't know what they're going to do with it' [and] 'The government is trying to say we're not natives so they don't have to give us land claims' -- there's another one that I got maybe three times now," she said.

"Lots of people just say, 'Well, I'm from Alaska,' or 'My relatives were always here,'" she added. "There are a few people who said, 'My relatives were always here. Our legends tell us we were always here.'"

Schurr said he understands some aboriginal communities may have concerns about researchers using their genetic material for studies.

"The response in the communities, even in a single community, is quite varied: some people want to do it, some people don't," he said.

"We try to partner with communities who do have an interest in using science or using this kind of approach to add details or insights into their own ancestry, and they find it a very productive relationship."

Schurr said people who provide saliva swabs will be sent individual information about their family lineage in about four months' time.

Their DNA samples will be destroyed after about one year, but Schurr added people can choose to allow researchers to keep their samples for another decade.

Schurr said he has already collected several hundred DNA samples in the Beaufort Delta region. He will be heading to the N.W.T.'s North Slave region at the end of this month.