are native american indians from other countries still native americans?

[greentallica]

My maternal grandmother was full native american from CANADA. I am a US citizen. Would it be OK to mark "Native American" on Law School apps?

[greentallica]

anybody?

[Reach]

You don't seem to feel that you're Native American, so I'd say "no."

Strictly based on the extra-national question, however, I would most definitely say it does NOT matter if one is Canadian or American.  It's fairly common for groups to straddle the border anyway, so no big deal.  Still, if your only claim is "someone else is Indian, should I say I'm Indian too?" the statement conveys that you don't view yourself as an Indian.

[mentalpatient]

My maternal grandmother was full native american from CANADA. I am a US citizen. Would it be OK to mark "Native American" on Law School apps?

As far as your concern with your race mixed with Native American with less than 50%, go find some other threads dealing with mixed race issues.  There are plenty of them.  Also your question about being a descendant of Native American from Canada instead of from the U.S., I think it shouldn't matter.  Canada is also America.  If it was a problem, they should call Native Americans natives of the United States instead.

[juliemccoy]

Did your relative sign a tribal registry? I think that is part of it.

Technically, you can say you are part "Native American." I don't think LSAC wants to know how much of your blood is Native American, Hispanic or African-American.

[gillesthegreat]

It might depend on very bureaucratic considerations. If your grandmother was full status, she was considered S1. From how you are describing it, I'm guessing she had children with a non-native. Children of an S1 and a non-native are considered S2. Now it gets tricky. Children of S2 and S1 or S2 are S1. Children of S2 and nothing are nothing. So, for the Canadian government, I believe you would not qualify as native.

What to do with this info? Well, double-check. And then decide for yourself, since this has to do with Canadian law and nothing else. But I do believe that's the formula.

[juliemccoy]

I filled out an LSAC survey today b/c I attended the Dallas Forum. The last question asked me for race data-- there was a box for "Canadian aboriginal"

[randylf]

no they are not considered native americans in the context of applying to law school.  if you check the box for native american on law school applications you will have to provide your legal document (tribal identification card, certificate degree of indian blood) with an enrollment or census number of your tribal affiliation to confirm your native identity. 

[juliemccoy]

if you check the box for native american on law school applications you will have to provide your legal document (tribal identification card, certificate degree of indian blood) with an enrollment or census number of your tribal affiliation to confirm your native identity. 

I'm not jumping on your for providing this information, but that is just ridiculous. If that's the case, then they should require African Americans to prove lineage of slave ancestors and require Hispanics to provide a geaneological chart if they're going to make Native Americans jump through hoops to prove their bloodline.

[randylf]

the issue is that native american tribes have a legal relationship with the united states government that requires documentation of its members.  so while it may seem ridiculous to you, native americans who are legally enrolled in a tribe are quite familiar with providing this kind of information and it really doesn't feel like an inconvenience if you are, in a legal sense, native american.  so it doesn't necessarily feel like jumping through hoops if you are already an enrolled member of a tribe with legal documentation.  so you have to remember the special legal relationship that the united states government has with indian tribes when considering what is ridiculous or not and when drawing comparisons to other races/ethnic groups.  so claiming that you are native american for the purposes of applying to law school is not as easy as checking a box.