Signers of the 2007 United Nations (U.N.) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including Canada and the United States (U.S.), have committed to protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples including the right to self-determination. First Peoples Nations of Canada and the U.S. have been granted self-determination rights, but often these rights have limitations when it comes to ensuring quality mental health care for their peoples. Self-determination rights have been a major step toward affirming Indigenous national sovereignty over the mental health, but much more can be done. When self-determination parameters were codified within the colonial nations, they reflected a reductionist viewpoint that did not include a relational understanding of wellness or considerations that health and mental health are relational in nature and unrestricted by national boundaries. Relational wellness may not necessarily be addressed by reductionist interpretations of self-determination. A relational interpretation of self-determination is also necessary to account for the interdependent nature of wellness such that relationships between colonial nations and their Indigenous neighbors must be equitably considered and respected. Publicly recognizing and respecting the cultural and scientific parity of Indigenous nations with those of Canada and the U.S. would advance Indigenous relational wellness as committed to in the U.N. Declaration and promote equitable international relationships. Affirming both reductionist and relational self-determination could be mutually beneficial, advancing the relational wellness of Indigenous nations while interdependently and simultaneously advancing the health and mental health of Canada and the U.S. • Reviews the United Nations interpretation of self-determination and how it is linked to equitable regard • Reviews the advantages and limits of self-determination to advance Indigenous mental health • Discusses relational wellness as an Indigenous interpretation of health including mental health • Contrasts reductionist self-determination with relational self-determination • Discusses the importance of Indigenous paradigmatic parity to self-determination
Arthur W. Blume (Tue,) studied this question.