Jace Weaver) have read it as a portmanteau of "survival + resistance," but there does not seem to be any evidence that Vizenor had such a specific combination in mind. Rather, by changing the suffix from -al to -ance, he insists on an active survival, in which contemporary Native American peoples go beyond merely subsisting in the ruins of tribal cultures to actively inheriting and refashioning those cultures for the postmodern age.
Jace Weaver has interpreted it as a blend of "survival + resistance," but there is no evidence that Vizenor had this specific combination in mind. Instead, by altering the suffix from -al to -ance, he emphasizes an active survival where contemporary Native American peoples transcend merely surviving within tribal remnants and actively inherit and reshape those cultures for the postmodern era.