Culturally Grounded Understandings of Mental Health and Well-Being Among the Indigenous Wiwa Community In Colombia

Background and Purpose: Indigenous populations worldwide face disproportionately high rates of suicide and mental health challenges. In Colombia, these issues are intensified by poverty, armed conflict, territorial exploitation, and limited access to culturally appropriate care. To address this issue, some Indigenous communities and the Colombian government developed the Guidelines for the Care of the Spiritual and Mental Harmonies of Indigenous Peoples and Communities. However, the Indigenous Wiwa community did not participate in this process, and their perspectives on mental health remain largely unexplored. This qualitative, exploratory study aimed to understand how members of the Wiwa community who live in Kemakumake, a remote and rural community located in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northwestern Colombia, conceptualize mental health, as well as their current practices for maintaining well-being in the community and the threats they face.

Methods: Data was collected using a combination of photovoice, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation, prioritizing the voices of the participants. Thirteen participants (11 community members and 2 community health providers) were recruited through snowball sampling to explore culturally grounded perspectives on mental health and well-being. Two separate codebooks were developed using an inductive approach: one was used to analyze photovoice and interview data from the 11 community members, and the second was developed for data obtained from the two community health providers. All interviews and photovoice session were digitally recorded, encrypted, transcribed verbatim, and stored on a secure server. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out using Dedoose software.

Results: Participants highlighted Madre Tierra as the foundation of well-being and emphasized the importance of cultural preservation. Spiritual leadership and cultural practices were viewed as essential not only for healing, but also for maintaining harmony among the body, mind, community, and the natural world. Participants underscored the importance of ongoing preventive practices to avoid illness, as well as the central role of the Mamo (spiritual leader), who leads cultural rituals fundamental to community well-being. Traditional practices, including tejidos and poporear, and specific rituals in their sacred sites were also emphasized. A key concern across participants was the impact of external interventions in their territory, such as fumigation, deforestation, and Western influence, which were perceived not only as environmental threats, but also as profound disruptions to emotional, spiritual, and cultural well-being.

Conclusions and Implications: This study affirms the Wiwa’s holistic conception of mental health as rooted in spirituality, collective life, and harmony with nature. It highlights challenges between intercultural policy and Indigenous autonomy, particularly in remote contexts. Findings also call attention to the impact of extractivism and climate change. Environmental disruptions threaten not only ecological stability but also food systems, access to medicinal plants, and spiritual practices that are central to Indigenous survival and mental health. Participatory, culturally grounded methodologies proved essential for ethical knowledge co-creation and decolonial inquiry.