Postindian survivance: Gerald Vizenor and Kimberly Blaeser

White Earth Anishinaabe scholar Gerald Vizenor has invented numerous new terms and theories. In this essay, I examine his concepts of "survivance" and "postindian" for the ways in which they defy racialization and political oppression and at the same time work to formulate new identities reflective of Anishinaabe values and traditions. I also explore how the time-honored Anishinaabe concept of mino-bimaadiziwin, "the good life," relates both to survivance and to the postindian. Vizenor asserts, "Natives are the diverse visionary sovereigns of this continent."1 Following this assertion, I argue that his concepts of survivance and postindian as well as mino-bimaadiziwin are Anishinaabeg visions of sovereignty. I use the poetry of White Earth Anishinaabe writer Kimberly Blaeser to illuminate these concepts. Finally, I discuss the work of both authors in the context of the White Earth Nation and the White Earth Anishinaabeg.