Importance of survivance in Native American culture
Essay 2: Analysis
This essay focuses on the rhetorical task of analysis.
In this essay, you are invited to write an essay that examines the importance of survivance in Native American culture, in response to the following prompt Anishinaabe scholar Gerald Vizenor defines survivance as “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.”
More than just survival, survivance encompasses stewardship of the legacies of Native innovation, as well as nourishing and revitalizing Indigenous culture and forms of knowledge. Narrativity plays a critical role in resisting colonization by anchoring presence with the power of language and ceremony. (Abreu)
Write an essay that analyzes how survivance in Native American culture works to resist oppression.
As part of your response, you should consider the following questions:
What kinds of oppression/adversity do Native Americans currently face?
How does the historical oppression of Native Americans contribute to current experiences of oppression/adversity?
How do Native American authors and/or artists represent survivance in their creative works?
How does survivance resist oppression/adversity?
For this assignment, you may not incorporate sources other than the course texts . 03 of these texts MUST be The Absolutely Rue Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
