Using a technique called linguistic phylogeny, scientists from Georgetown University have made an intriguing discovery: languages of the North American Na-Dene family (traditionally spoken in Alaska, Canada and parts of the US) and the Asian Yeneseian family (spoken in central Siberia) are related! Researchers think that both tongues had a common ancestor that can be traced to Beringia, the region surrounding the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Sea. It has been thought that inhabitants of Siberia crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America. But new findings make “it look like Beringia wasn’t simply a bridge, but actually a homeland – a refuge, where people could build a life,” says Mark Sicoli, a specialist in Native American languages.