Lateral violence in Indigenous governance is not always interpersonal. Sometimes it lives in the systems, the silences, and the communication gaps that no single person is responsible for. This post explores what lateral violence looks like when there is no villain, and what governance can do about it.

Lateral kindness opened the door. Lateral trust is what we're building through it.

What does it actually take to shift from lateral violence to lateral kindness? The frameworks exist, but the personal work underneath them requires humility, self-awareness, and the willingness to sit with hard questions about what we carry.

Lateral violence in First Nations governance accumulates quietly, in the meetings where certain people stop speaking, in the rooms where heads stay down. This is for the people who are paying attention.

We've all experienced lateral violence. I want to continue the conversation and move toward lateral kindness.