Vocabulary
Cultural erosion
When parts of a culture start to disappear or become lost over time.
Cultural resilience
survival of identity despite oppression
Ancestral traces
lingering signs or connections to past generations that continue to shape identity, culture, or place.
Cultural silence
the absence or suppression of voices, stories, and traditions within a culture, often caused by trauma, displacement, or oppression.
Emotional resilience
the ability to adapt, recover, and remain strong in the face of hardship, trauma, or stress.
Colonial silence
the deliberate silencing or erasure of Indigenous or colonised peoples’ voices, histories, and knowledge by colonial powers.
Erosion of community
loss of collective cultural identity.
Prevailing assumptions
widely held beliefs or ideas in society that are often accepted without question, even if they are inaccurate or biased.
Spiritual disconnection
the loss of connection to one’s cultural or ancestral spirituality, often due to displacement, assimilation, or colonisation.
Self-determination
The ability to make independent choices, often in opposition to external control.
Reclamation
Taking back value—of materials and of identity/self-worth.
political agency
The capacity of individuals or groups to influence political or social systems through actions or ideas.
Transgenerational trauma
the passing down of unresolved pain, grief, or trauma from one generation to the next, often rooted in historical injustice.
Fragments of cultural and familial inheritance
small, surviving pieces of traditions, values, and memories passed down through family and community over time.
Custodianship of memory
holding responsibility for cultural inheritance.
Sympathetic resonance
Deep understanding and shared feeling with another’s experiences or emotions.
Paradigm shift
A fundamental change in the way of thinking or understanding, often in relation to knowledge or worldview.
Spiritual rupture
severed ties between land, ancestors, self.
Generational reclamation
restoring what ancestors were denied.
Spiritual dislocation
a sense of being spiritually displaced or cut off from one’s cultural, religious, or ancestral roots.
Spatial abandonment
deserted place embodying dispossession.
Postcolonial resistance
the ways in which formerly colonised peoples push back against ongoing effects of colonisation, reclaiming identity, culture, and power.
Environmental stewardship
the responsible management and care of the natural environment, ensuring its protection and sustainability for future generations.
Cultural reanimation
the revival or restoration of cultural practices, traditions, and stories that were once suppressed or diminished.
Structural erasure
the systematic removal or overlooking of a people’s culture, history, or identity through laws, institutions, or dominant social structures.