lifeways
How people live
Lifeways are the customs, practices, and daily patterns that define how a group of people lives.
The term appears most often in anthropological and indigenous contexts, encompassing everything from food gathering to spiritual practices to social organization: Traditional lifeways were disrupted by colonization.
It emphasizes culture as lived experience rather than abstract belief.
Systematic study of peoples
- kinshipState of being related
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
- hunter-gathererPre-farming subsistence lifestyle
- nomadicWithout fixed residence
sedentary · agrarian · shamanism · clan · totem · matriarchy · patriarchy · cultural relativism
Inherited cultural legacy
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- folkloreInherited cultural narratives
- legendsTraditional stories or icons
myths · proverbs · oral history · elders · heirlooms · sacred sites · ceremonial dress · storytelling
Community wisdom across generations
- land-basedSituated on earth
- stewardshipResponsible care of entrusted things
- sacred plantsVegetation with religious importance
- tribalOf a clan
native · aboriginal · dreaming · potlatch · sweat lodge · vision quest · medicine wheel · talking circle
Aesthetic of reduction
- veganismComplete animal product abstention
- sustainableAble to endure long-term
- wellnessOverall state of health
- consumerismPreoccupation with acquiring goods
suburban · urban · cosmopolitan · frugality · health-conscious · telecommuting · plant-based · off-grid
ethnography
Systematic study of peoples
- kinshipState of being related
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
- hunter-gathererPre-farming subsistence lifestyle
nomadic · sedentary · agrarian · shamanism · clan · totem · matriarchy · patriarchy · cultural relativism · ethnobotany
heritage
Inherited cultural legacy
legends · myths · proverbs · oral history · elders · heirlooms · sacred sites · ceremonial dress · storytelling · feast days
traditional knowledge
Community wisdom across generations
- land-basedSituated on earth
- stewardshipResponsible care of entrusted things
- sacred plantsVegetation with religious importance
tribal · native · aboriginal · dreaming · potlatch · sweat lodge · vision quest · medicine wheel · talking circle · elder wisdom
minimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
- veganismComplete animal product abstention
- sustainableAble to endure long-term
- wellnessOverall state of health
consumerism · suburban · urban · cosmopolitan · frugality · health-conscious · telecommuting · plant-based · off-grid · intentional community
lifewayscultural erasure
Destroying group identity markers
assimilation · cultural genocide · displacement · uprootedness · deracination