The naming conventions associated with indigenous hunter-gatherers of southern Africa are given in a historical, social and participant-driven context in the Supplementary Information to our paper (S. C. Schuster et al. Nature 463, 943–947; 2010). The four men we describe prefer to be addressed by their group names, namely Ju/'hoansi, !Kung and 'N/uhmte, but such individual-group naming does not allow for identification at the linguistic and genetic levels.

Historically, all group identifiers for indigenous hunter-gatherers of southern Africa have carried a negative connotation at some point, including those mentioned by Carina Schlebusch. In the post-apartheid era, a sense of common identity has emerged, based on shared experience and political awareness, leading to a recognition of the need for an overarching group name. However, the preferred identifier for these peoples continues to vary among groups, organizations and nations (see, for example, http://go.nature.com/hA6OgY).

Given the disparate nature of this nomenclature, we used the terms with which the participants themselves were most comfortable, out of respect for their right to ethnic self-identification. The Namibian hunter-gatherer participants chose the name 'Bossiesman' (Afrikaans for 'bushmen') as their group identifier and expressed pride in the affiliation, stressing that the negative connotation is almost obsolete. Archbishop Tutu has declared himself proud to be Bantu and Bushmen since becoming aware of his Bushmen ancestry through our study.

Pennsylvania State University, Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA e-mail: scs@bx.psu.edu