cultural revitalization and ethnogenesis
Broader Term: history and culture change27 DocumentsScope Note
Ethnogenesis includes the processes of forming, maintaining, and reforming cultural identity. Ethnogenesis may result from depopulation, invasion, relocation, enslavement, genocide, or cultural revitalization. Ethnogenesis may occur when cultures from disparate groups combine to form new associations and new ways of life to create a new culture (such as the Seminole). In cultural revitalization the identity of a group is reconstituted and may include new or borrowed symbols and elements as well as elements from the past. Cultural revitalization may result from many causes or events. These causes or events may include the influence of a messianic religious movement such as the Ghost Dance in North America or being part of a larger culture that acknowledges the need for reparation of past wrongs, such as those mentioned above, and in which recognition of ethnic identity and pride in cultural heritage is encouraged.