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To identify...

• - An enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe,
  - Held a leadership position in my UG's Native American Student Association,
  - When someone asks me my heritage/ethnic background, I say that I'm "x tribe from my mom's side and y-european from my dad's"
  - The job I have right now is related to indigenous groups. Although it's not specifically AIs, my experiences here and what I've learned from this position is something that I will probably write about in my personal statement

Or not to identify...

• - Only my mom is AI, my dad isn't
  - I look "white", recognize that I have white privilege, my actual blood quantum is relatively low (even though I think the whole idea behind blood quantum racist/dumb)
  - Didn't grow up near our tribal area, and not involved in tribal matters other than reading "Indian Country Today"
  - Not particularly interested in tribal law or federal Indian law now, but am also not closed to the idea.

In my everyday life, I identify as AI/Caucasian, the only reason I am questioning it now is because I've heard that it can hurt your admissions if you identify as an URM but admissions doesn't find your claim strong enough.

I'm not NA/AI so if someone in that community gives you advice it should probably supersede mine.

I think you honestly are worrying too much. It's not like by identifying as AI you're pretending to be something you're not.

You identify as AI/white in real life, that's what you should put on your apps. You can write a diversity statement about being culturally/racially mixed and how your heritages/experiences have shaped your perspective.

man i really misinterpreted this thread title

I would definitely run with it and consider myself a URM.

fats provolone wrote:man i really misinterpreted this thread title

Yeah, Allen Iverson in law school would have been a curveball.

what you are being asked:
"are you", to some non-negligible extent*, native american? bear in mind that you may "be" multiple races/ethnicities.

what you are NOT being asked:
have you benefitted from white privilege in your life?
precisely what fraction native american are you?
do you look native american?
or really anything else that is not identical in meaning to the first question.

is that helpful? in my mind the answer to your question is abundantly clear: yes, you are, to some non-negligible extent, native american. mark that on your applications and move on forever.

*of course this is a central issue here; schools do not, and will not, define precisely what it means to be a certain race/ethnicity. if they did, this question - which pops up all the time in LS admissions - would be solved.

qahwaqahwa wrote:An enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe

Yeah, I'd identify as NA. You're not being dishonest and it could only help you.

I think your political affiliation will help determine the answer to your question.

Jokes aside, it sounds like you're definitely in the category of those who can fairly claim and support a claim to be AI.

Clicked on the off chance AI meant artificial intelligence. I'm leaving now that I know I'm not among the first humans to witness TLS self-awareness.