Wharerātā Declaration

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Healthy indigenous individuals, families and communities through indigenous leadership

The Wharerātā Declaration hereby asserts:

• That the foundation for healthy indigenous individuals, families and communities lies in the shared valuing of indigenous knowledge.
• That the protection and support of health and mental health is the goal of indigenous leadership.
• In mental health and in health, not only are indigenous perspectives on health worthy of inclusion, but they add value to western and medical perspectives on health.

There are five themes that underlie indigenous contributions to mental health, or factors that lead to health:

1. Indigeneity - we protect and maintain cultural knowledge / indigenous intelligence
2. Best / Wise Practice - in mental health we start with indigenous intelligence, and add on mainstream knowledges as appropriate
3. Best / Wise Evidence - evaluation is based in the origin of the intervention - if an intervention is cutlural, then the evaluation methodology must also be based in cultural knowledge
4. Indigenous Leadership - change is needed at a systems level, and as indigenous leaders in mental health we study and learn "leadership" as a necessary skillset, but based in our indigenous intelligence
   1. Informed - in both cultural and mainstream knowledges, and able to switch between the two "languages" to strengthen communication skills
   2. Credible - we maintain credibility with our home community/network as well as with mainstream peers
   3. Strategic - we think and lead strategically to build alliances and partnerships
   4. Connected - we protect and strengthen networks across sectors including mainstream mental health, indigenous mental health, political and funders
   5. Sustainable - we work to maintain our own worklife balance, and to build future leaders to take over for us
5. Indigenous Leadership Influence - us of our positive influence through our networks, with our peers, based in our credibility, is a strategic approach to changing systems to better serve indigenous clients

The Declaration envisions wellness for indigenous peoples, and indigenous leadership contributes and leads to five goals in health:

• Pathways to health
• Cultural integrity
• Value for money
• Facilitation of change
• Contribution to community development

Together the themes and goals make up the Declaration.  Please review the full Wharerātā Declaration, and share your thoughts with us.  The Declaration in Powerpoint is available to members only. 

• Declaration ppt in pdf

Key Concepts and Additional Readings

• Culture
• Cultural competence
• Best practice and wise practice

Nothing in this plan should be interpreted to be binding on indigenous groups, nor restricting indigenous groups' work with their respective countries.