Indigenising Development and Mental Health Spaces in Solomon Islands

Indigenous Solomon Islanders’ conceptualisations of space, place, and identity are central to their engagement with mental health, underscoring the need for development aid-funded counselling initiatives to integrate local knowledge systems, worldviews, and socio-cultural structures. This thesis examines how such initiatives in Honiara can be made more culturally meaningful by embedding Indigenous spatial practices and perspectives into mental health care. A qualitative case study approach was employed, focusing on the Social and Emotional Well-being (“TokSpot”) Project (2020–2025), a youth mental health initiative in Honiara funded through ChildFund New Zealand’s Solomon Islands IMPACT Programme and implemented by the Honiara City Council. The project is informed by Te Whare Tapa Whā (Durie, 1994), a holistic Māori health framework, raising critical questions about its applicability within the Solomon Islands context. The research explores two key questions: (1) How do Indigenous Solomon Islanders’ conceptualisations of space, place, and identity influence perceptions of and engagement with conventional counselling in Honiara? (2) How can the Māori Te Whare Tapa Whā framework contribute to the development of culturally relevant mental health care in Honiara? Data collection was conducted through tok stori, a Melanesian oral tradition, with 15 participants of Indigenous Solomon Islands origins. Findings indicate that counselling is understood through three primary dimensions: counselling as place(s) and space(s) for talk, counselling as shared space(s), and counselling as a practice of cultural continuity. The adaptation of Te Whare Tapa Whā reveals both opportunities and challenges, including tensions between Western paradigms, the exclusion of Christian values, and limitations on Indigenous agency in project design. The study recommends integrating traditional communal practices and Indigenous governance structures to enhance cultural relevance in mental health interventions. This research contributes to the discourse on culturally grounded mental health interventions within Indigenous geographies, offering insights for policy and practice in development aid initiatives in Solomon Islands.