Lateral violence is rampant in the Aboriginal community and indeed the Noongar community.

There are people claiming a certain status in the Aboriginal community who attend annual general meetings and public meetings with the intention of disruption by being outspoken about other Aboriginal members of the community, making claims that people have done bad things, and everyone should support them in berating them.

Some of these so-called leaders have, without knowledge of the truth, given confidential information to media sources that have not been checked for truth or accuracy.

For far too long Aboriginal people have been trying to bring our generations of Aboriginal people out of the gutter into a brighter future, but have been stymied by a group of people who claim to know better, and strangely believe they have cultural authority to put down individuals and groups of Aboriginal people.

They have not seen the plans or visions for future generations. This is called lateral violence or the black poppy syndrome.

So what is lateral violence?

Lateral violence is displaced violence directed against one's peers rather than adversaries. This construct is one way of explaining minority-on-minority violence in developed nations.

Examples of lateral violence include snide comments, sarcasm, belittling gestures or comments, inappropriate or unjust evaluations, withholding information, holding grudges and displaying favouritism.

I would add lateral violence includes having meetings about individuals or groups to discuss how to disempower said persons, and alarmingly when people start questioning a person's heritage or family and spiritual connection to country, language or totem without any consideration for their truth.

Lateral violence happens in organisations and communities everywhere - people gossiping and backstabbing - but within Aboriginal communities it's particularly sharp and particularly acute.

Cyber-bullying through texting and social networking is also an emerging problem among Aboriginal people.

It has been observed that lateral violence occurs within marginalized groups where members strike out at each other because of being oppressed. The oppressed become the oppressors of themselves and each other.

It is a cycle of abuse, and its roots lie in factors such as colonisation, oppression, intergenerational trauma and the ongoing experiences of racism and discrimination.

In Australia and Canada lateral violence is widely seen as an intergenerational learned pattern and major social problem in indigenous communities.

Surveys have reported up to 95 per cent of Aboriginal youth had witnessed lateral violence in the home, and that 95 per cent of the bullying experienced by Aboriginals was perpetrated by other Aboriginals.

Frequent forms of lateral violence

Non-verbal innuendo such as raising eyebrows, face-making or making obscene gestures.

Bullying people for having a lighter or darker skin tone and for not looking Aboriginal.

Malicious gossip including spreading rumours about a subject's cultural identity.

Shaming.

Infighting such as bickering, family violence, racially-motivated teasing, taunting, froshing (an initiation usually involving pain or embarrassment), and threats.

Backstabbing.

Organisational conflict.

social exclusion such isolating someone from their peer group.

physical violence.

cyber-bullying.

I for one am fed up with the constant lateral violence which people assume to be their right and cultural duty. If you knew cultural responsibility and the old ways you would not be doing what you are doing.

You are doing this because you do not know any better.

Governments are not likely to fix the issue. Instead, the solution must come from Aboriginal people taking control.

Self-determination can stifle the toxicity of victimhood and powerlessness, and enables communities to make their own decisions when resolving disputes, defining acceptable behaviour and taking responsibility of the well-being of the community.

Naming lateral violence is the first step towards exerting control over it.

It gives Aboriginal communities the language to name laterally violent behaviour, the space to discuss its impact, and the tools to start developing solutions.

It takes knowledge of the old ways to start the process.

How government plays a role

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner Mick Gooda believes governments can create an environment for lateral violence through a lack of recognition and engagement, and by pitting groups against each other.

One such example is the native title process where Aboriginal people must prove their identity repeatedly.

In some states Aboriginal groups have a say in who belongs to a particular land and who doesn't, a right which can stir lateral violence when native title claimants are not sure of their Aboriginal identity and communities become fragmented. The native title process can also lead to feelings of dispossession.

"Although native title provides a unique opportunity for many of our communities to overcome disadvantage, these outcomes are often not fully realised because lateral violence fragments our communities as we navigate structures such as the native title system," Mr Gooda said.

Who speaks for a community and whom governments choose to listen to can alienate those who miss out and let them feel powerless.

Governments contribute to a feeling of powerlessness by taking a deficit-based approach--addressing the 'Aboriginal problem' rather than focusing on capabilities and resilience of Aboriginal people.

We know what lateral violence is, we see it in our families, our hometowns and places of work. It's a spectrum of behaviour that is unacceptable but has always found a way to trickle through the cracks.

This behaviour is rooted in colonialism. Our identity is fundamental to our way of life and the imposition of false and degrading stereotypes on our people throughout history has left our identity to, at times, lean into a severe conformity complex.

Versions of our identity have been constructed for us and weaponised against us time and time again.

While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still have to deal with media and broader community ignorance and insensitivity about who is a 'real Aboriginal person' it is distressing that so much of the venom about identity conflict comes from within our communities.

This sort of criticism of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who find success in the non-Indigenous world is more than just the characteristically Australian tall poppy syndrome.

There may be elements of jealousy at work for those who manage to succeed where others do not, or as Noel Pearson explains again:

Conflict generated by identity is also in sharp relief in the way the native title system operates.

When you have personally been impacted by lateral violence you fully understand what the impacts are personally professionally.

However The vision these people have is an economic future for themselves and what we see is an economic capability, capacity, determination and a welfare resistant lifestyle, for Aboriginal individual's families and children growing up in a safe environment.

Our children are our future.

Bruce Loo is a Noongar man from Perth, Western Australia.