Psychology on The Rock: Mental Health System and Kanaké Indigenous Tradition in New Caledonia

Abstract

This chapter is co-authored by clinical psychologists, Kanaké tradi-practitioners, and a former healthcare administrator in New Caledonia. It presents geographical, demographic, mythical and historical data, before describing the organization of the country’s public health system. The authors provide a quantitative assessment of public health challenges and present the country’s governmental initiatives, including the Do Kamo-Be Fulfilled global health plan, which seeks to address the social determinants of health. This chapter also reviews the efforts of New Caledonian psychologists to integrate indigenous Kanaké universes of meaning with modern Western approaches to health care, while noting that a network of Kanaké traditional practitioners operates on the margins of the official public health system. Elements of traditional practices of psychic care and personal development from the Kanaké Paicî-Camuki and Hoot Ma Whaap countries are then presented. These practices may involve community knowledge, the art of relationship, the use of plants, and inner and spiritual knowledge of the self. The authors conclude that there is a need to redefine the concept of mental health in New Caledonia and that Kanaké indigenous psychology is essential to promote well-being in the country. They draw attention to its central role in the restoration of colonial and post-colonial wounds in the archipelago and to the importance of developing an integrative common care for the benefit of all New Caledonians.

New Caledonia is often nicknamed “The Rock”.

The word “Kanaké” is adopted in this text for its completeness, even if the word “Kanak” is usually used.