Samii Tiger



Samii Tiger was born on March 18, 1986 in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Kankakee, Illinois for most of his life.

Samii's fursona is a shape-shifting winged Siberian Tiger. The other forms his fursona takes are reflections of his personal totems, as well as traits of his personality. Most times, he tends to take his male tiger form.

In March 2012, Samii, after several years of consideration (and roughly a year of social transition amongst friends and loved ones), made the decision to medically transition to male. Samii began hormone replacement therapy on October 4, 2012. As part of his beliefs, he accepts and acknowledges his life prior to transitioning to male, and that is reflected throughout this article. However, he does note that when encountering him now, he would like people to regard him as male, as that is his gender expression.

Origins
The character of Samii Tiger started out back in 1992 as a roleplaying character during recesses with friends. The group she played with developed the Ninja Animals storyline with humans who had their DNA merged with that of selected animals. These recess roleplay sessions continued until 1995, when she was moved to another school to pursue accelerated education in the district's newly-formed Gifted Program.

Following the transfer to a new school, she met a friend in her combined fifth and sixth grade class who introduced her to Furcadia in February of 1996. She started on there as Samii Tiger, formed the Furcadian Air Force, which was later disbanded due to lack of participation, and met Yaashma, and had conversations with sanctimonious.

In 1997, Samii left Furcadia at her mother's request and left furry, as well.

In 2000, Samii returned to Furcadia and to furry, reconnecting with a part of her past that had been lost for a time. Three years later, Samii learned of Midwest FurFest and made plans to attend that year, which ended up falling through due to finances and lack of her mother's approval.

Samii was enrolled at Northern Illinois University in the fall of 2004. In her Japanese class, she met a fellow fur, Taren Nauxen, who introduced her to Tybis, another local fur on campus. Through these new associations, Samii was introduced to LAFF, or the Lake Area Furry Friends, and began attending the local fur events. During the course of the 2004 school year, Samii discovered her other forms, a Western black dragon, a black timber wolf, and a tiger-wolf halfbreed known as the Tolf. They are not only fursonas, but also personal totem animals.

In 2011, Samii's character settled in to being primarily male to reflect Samii's (the person's) gender expression.

Convention Experience
Throughout his time in the furry community, Samii has served as staff and as a panelist for several conventions. You can find his (brief) listing below.

IndyFurCon (iFC)
 * Director of Artist Relations (August 2013 - 2017)
 * Dealer's Den/Artist Alley Coordinator (post con 2012 - August 2013)

Midwest Furfest
 * Security (2006, 2014 - Current)
 * Registration (2010 - Current)
 * Panelist (2007 - Current)
 * Drum Jam (2007 - 2013)
 * Transfurs (2012 - Current, Intermittent)
 * When Worlds Collide (2006 - Current, Intermittent)

Rocket City FurMeet (RCFM)
 * Volunteer Coorindator (post con 2005 - 2010)
 * Conbook Editor (2008-2010)
 * Panelist (2006 - 2010)
 * Drum Jam (2007 - 2010)
 * When Worlds Collide (2006 - 2010)