DNA profiling is just one of many tools available to police in a criminal investigation. However, unlike any other criminal investigative tool, DNA profiling has captured the public imagination. Its portrayal in popular fiction has given rise to the “CSI effect”, whereby the weight and credibility of science, combined with the predictive potential of DNA, produce an aura of infallibility and certainty only amplified by creative license.

Genetic material holds particular significance for Indigenous peoples, establishing identity and group membership, as well as associated rights. This taonga (treasure) status entails particular sensitivities regarding its handling and use; these have been well explored in health, but less so in the forensic context. This article presents professional and lay Māori perspectives on forensic DNA technologies in New Zealand, highlighting the inseparability of these from Indigenous experiences of criminalization but also their value in informing operational, ethical and justice-oriented considerations.

DNA 分析只是警方在刑事调查中可用的众多工具之一。然而，与任何其他刑事调查工具不同，DNA 分析已经引起了公众的想象。它在通俗小说中的描绘引起了“CSI 效应”，即科学的重要性和可信度与 DNA 的预测潜力相结合，产生了一种无误和确定性的光环，只有通过创作许可才能放大。

遗传材料对土著人民具有特别重要的意义，可以建立身份和群体成员资格以及相关权利。这种 taonga（宝藏）地位在处理和使用方面需要特别敏感；这些已经在健康领域得到了很好的探索，但在法医领域则较少。本文介绍了新西兰法医 DNA 技术的专业和非专业毛利人观点，强调了这些技术与土著刑事定罪经验密不可分，但也强调了它们在为操作、道德和司法方面的考虑提供信息方面的价值。