Wilbur Proposes Health Survivance Concept For Understanding American Indian and Alaska Native Behavioral Health
Posted: 12/18/2025 (CSDE Research)

In a recent article published in American Psychologist, CSDE External Affiliate Rachel Wilbur (Washington State University) argues that addressing American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) behavioral health inequity must center Indigenous ways of knowing, emphasizing continued presence achieved through active resistance. Wilbur and her co-author contend that the concept of health survivance better meets the needs of AI/AN communities than the Eurocentric construct of resilience. The authors propose that health survivance differs from conventional resilience in four key ways: (a) resistance to unjust societal arrangements versus adaptation to the status quo; (b) recognition of a temporal arc inclusive of the past, present, and future versus focusing on individual lifespan; (c) persistence of community and culture versus personal adaptation and well-being; and (d) refusal of identities of victimization versus accentuating adversity and trauma.