So you’ve got heritage—now what?

To identify, or not to identify?

Individuals with heritage-based identities find themselves in an ethically delicate territory because they are at risk of contributing to the assimilation of their heritage group whether they choose to identify with this heritage-based identity, or whether they choose not to.

... To identify?

By identifying with their heritage-based identity without regard for their own social positioning or the norms of the heritage community, they may in fact unintentionally contribute to the assimilation of their heritage group.

This is particularly true if they also have identities that are directly juxtaposed with the heritage-based identity (i.e., opposite aspects of an identity binary, or agent/dominant–target/minoritized binary). This has to do with the individual's socialization.

📖 Socialization “refers to our systematic traning into the norms of our culture" (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 36).

📖 Culture is described as “the norms, values, pratctices, patterns of communication, language, laws, customs, and meanings shared by a group of people located in a given time and place" (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 36).

Culture deeply impacts our worldview. Ineese-Nash (2019) states that "cultural knowledge is the source of our nationhood, our ability to survive, and our way of maintaining our connections to our web of relations."

The graphic below illustrates a well-known analogy of the cultural iceberg. It depicts an iceberg, with a large portion below the water and a smaller portion above the water. Various components of culture are placed in each section. Above the water are the more "surface level" aspects—elements that are comparatively easier to observe and learn. These are the sorts of things that tend to be shared at multicultural celebrations. While important, these "surface level" aspects are very superficial as compared to the "deep culture" aspects. Below the water are the "deeper" elements—the things that take significant time and immersion to learn and internalize. These aspects influence our worldview, how we carry ourselves, how we interact we others, etc.

As shown in the graphic below, most of the aspects that make up a given culture are below the surface; part of the deep culture.

Image source: Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education (2nd edition). Teachers College Press.

Ineese-Nash (2019) states, "to be Indigenous means to live Indigenous, and to live Indigenous requires Indigenous knowledge and thought". I would argue that this speaks to enacting these aspects of deep culture.

What about the people who didn't have that significant time and immersion allowing them to learn and internalize these deep culture elements? As Gauthier (2018) inquires, what of individuals of Francophone heritage who belong to "the lost generations"—those who have not had the opportunity to actively participate in the culture due to a number of complex reasons? Well, this is one aspect that individuals with heritage-based identities should understand and consider in their critical reflections about their positionality.

As discussed earlier, the representation of the voices and perspectives of the community is a key aspect of social sustainability. But how can an individual who has not been actively engaged with their heritage community and culture be a representative of it? How are they supposed to know and understand those deep culture elements that constitute the majority of the collective aspects of that given group?

It is neither surprising, nor shameful, given their particular circumstances, that these individuals should not have had this exposure. However, without a regard for this reality, as they occupy a position in the minority (heritage) group, they may inadvertently perpetuate agent/dominant group cultural norms, ideologies, etc. as though they represent target/minoritized group perspectives, despite lacking the socialization, contact and lived experiences to have developed these perspectives.

That is not to say that individuals reconnecting with their heritage cannot learn and develop: it is simply that they must recognize their position in the moment, and understand that this takes significant time and immersion. They must take in to consideration to what degree they claim to represent the perspectives of the collective.

Ineese-Nash (2019) highlights that one challenge for such individuals can be to have access to these cultural spaces and teaching. However, beyond addressing both the challenge and internal conflict that arises from walking the "in-between spaces of Indigeneity and settlerhood," Ineese-Nash (2019) also highlights that, despite these challenges, this positionality can be a tool in effecting change. This positionality can offer individuals other access that members of their heritage group may not have due to their own intersections. Thus, these individuals are at times opportunely situated to make positive change for their heritage community, but as Ineese-Nash (2019) highlights, it requires choice, understanding and commitment to engage and do so in such a way that remains true and respectful to the heritage community, which is a demanding, but worthwhile undertaking. It is "a commitment towards living with Indigenous knowledge embedded in everyday practice, even when daily life is steeped in coloniality" (Ineese-Nash, 2019).

... So, not to identify?

When considering historical intergroup relations in Canada, the project of the agent/dominant groups has been the assimilation of target/minoritized groups through various means, to the intended degree of erasure. The agent/dominant group is able to perpetuate this process due to their social positioning (their social power).

📖 Social assimilation is defined as “the process by which individuals are absorbed into the culture or mores of the dominant group” (American Psychological Association, n.d.-b).

The agent/dominant group is able to perpetuate this process due to their social positioning. Sensoy & DiAngelo (2017) explain that ”oppression involves institutional control, ideological domination, and the imposition of the dominant group's culture on the minoritized group” (p. 62), which closely echoes the variables of objective vitality, defined below.

📖 Objective vitality is a framework used to describe the degree to which a given group can “survive and thrive as a collective entity in [an] intergroup setting,” and is assessed using three variables: demography, institutional control and status (Bourhis et al., 2019).

Considering the previous definition of social sustainability, i.e., “the ability of [a community] to indefinitely maintain an adequate level of social well-being” (Comstock, 2024), objective vitality can be interpreted as being a measure of social sustainability.

The agent/dominant group leverages their high degree of objective vitality (ex. control of institutions, government, education) to deprive the target/minoritized group of theirs, making the latter less likely to survive and thrive as an entity. For example, an agent/dominant group may use their control of institutions such as government to impose policies to legislate a group of people (ex. as we saw with regard to status), or they may impose educational systems and policies to the detriment of minority target groups (ex. curriculum reflecting only a particular cultural narrative; not permitting or not funding minority language/culture schools, i.e. Francophone schools).

While many of these assimilation projects did not reach the point of erasure, they did impact the vitality of different groups. Ignoring a heritage-based identity contributes to this reduced vitality in this way.

Returning to importance of taking a critical perspective on these issues, that is taking into consideration the "historical, cultural and ideological contexts” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 23). When it is understood that historically, the project has been social assimilation, if an individual with a heritage-based identity wholly disregards or rejects this identity, then they could be seen as complicit in the historical assimilation project, as this aspect of their lineage could effectively be seen as assimilated.

While the above considerations are important, these are not the only facets to consider. Demography (i.e., more individuals considered to be a part of a given group) is also a tool that can contribute to group vitality, despite the concerns highlighted above. For example, when we take into account the population of Francophone schools, it is true that they will receive more government funding (like other schools) based on an increased student population. These additional funds may permit the to offer additional or diversified programming, which in turn may attract more families, thus increasing the student population, and so on so forth.

In this sense, the individual may contribute positively to demography (i.e., objective vitality) by identifying with their heritage group, which may contribute positively to the societal power of the group. The more vitality that a group has, the more likely they are to survive and thrive in an intergroup setting (Bourhis et al., 2019). From this perspective, identifying with the group could potentially have a sort of "anti-assimilation" effect.

So, "D) None of the above"? .... What is a person to do?

As you can see, individuals in this position find themselves navigating a delicate territory.

It is my opinion that there is a significant degree of responsibility incumbent upon these individuals to deeply understand the contexts of their history in relation to contemporary society as well as their own positionality and self-identity. Further, this must be an on-going commitment. They must seek this understanding with humility, with their positionality at the forefront, as they negotiate respectful, responsible engagement with their heritage community.

"There are considerable implications residing in the ethically ambiguous spaces in which Indigenous peoples navigate, which require critical orientations towards decolonization and Indigenous knowledge systems. For many, this also means engaging in critical self-inquiry about our learned behaviours and understandings." (Ineese-Nash, 2019).

Navigating this space can be challenging, uncomfortable and filled with uncertainty, but it can also be enriching, empowering and rewarding for individual and community, so long as it is done with humility and care.

While this article was never intended to be an instruction manual, my hope is that this has offered a critical reflection that may guide individuals in their own reflections and actions related to heritage-based identity claims as they work to engage in an ethical manner with these identities, balancing the risks of erosion and assimilation.

Thank you for engaging!

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