In the late 20th century, Anishinaabe writer and scholar Gerald Vizenor coined the term “survivance” to describe American indigenous cultures today. Though the term is intended to be ambiguous, he sums up part of its meaning in his book Manifest Manners: “Survivance is an active sense of presence, the continuance of native stories, not a mere reaction, or a survivable name. Native survivance stories are renunciations of dominance, tragedy, and victimry.” Like Santiago X, Vizenor looks to an indigenous future full of living cultures that are always transforming.
