Intergenerational Survivance
Rooting Psychology through Indigenous & Community Wisdoms

Drawing on Gerald Vizenor’s concept of survivance and Indigenous understandings of “heart knowledge, blood memory, and the voice of the land” (Holmes, 2000, p. 37), the theme of NMCS 2022 aims to root multicultural psychology in our communities’ wisdoms and intergenerational stories of triumph and resistance. This year’s theme renounces long-standing deficit narratives of victimry, tragedy, and dominance that have been applied to our communities and perpetuated by the field of psychology since its inception. We hope to draw attention to the wisdoms that emerge through surviving generations of violence and oppression and the countless generations  living and thriving with the land and traditional teachings prior to colonialism and since. Additionally, NMCS 2022 seeks to highlight contemporary community-based ways of knowing, being, and doing that are continually (re)emerging and evolving. These counternarratives of resisting, surviving, and thriving remind us of the strength of our relationships, and the interconnection within and between our diverse communities and experiences. 

In alignment with NMCS’ mission and objectives, the Host Divisions have committed to hosting the 2022 Summit at a Native American tribal property that directly supports the tribe and tribal community. This year’s theme honors the thousands of years of Indigenous presence, wisdom, and knowledge in the land that now comprises the colonial nation states of North, Central, and South America, calling on participants to reflect on their own multiple and intersecting intergenerational community wisdoms.