The Cedar Campaign
Colonialism disrupted our trust. We are rebuilding it.
#LateralTrust
RESTORING TRUST
Lateral violence is one of the most painful legacies of colonialism in Indigenous communities. It shows up as gossip, shaming, gatekeeping belonging, exclusion, and the quiet conflicts that erode trust from the inside. It is a legacy of colonialism, not a failing of Indigenous Peoples. It is carried in our social patterns, in our governance, and in the ways our bodies hold the memory of generations of harm.
The Cedar Campaign invites you to wear a cedar bough pin as a visible, everyday commitment to building lateral trust. Lateral trust grows through four interconnected practices: transparent communication, honouring belonging, accountable decision-making, and relational repair. These practices are what Indigenous governance systems always carried. The Cedar Campaign reconnects them with the governance structures communities navigate today.
The cedar trees on our lands were alive before contact. They remember what our Peoples' relationships looked like before colonialism disrupted them. That memory is still alive. Still standing. Still growing. And so is our commitment to rebuild.
The Cedar Campaign is built on a community facilitation model. We invite communities to carry out their own cedar-based cultural activities and share them using #LateralTrust. Host a gathering centred on transparent communication. Hold a conversation about honouring belonging. Create space for relational repair. The four practices give communities a concrete starting point, and the cedar gives everyone a shared symbol. When you share your community's work using #LateralTrust, you contribute to a living archive of lateral trust practice across the country.