The interconnection between health and hegemonic power has been at the centre of studies from a variety of fields, ranging from political science to healthcare and policy. My work will use a historical perspective to analyse how mental health in particular has been used as an instrument of power in settler colonial Algeria. More specifically, this paper will look at visual sources to highlight how colonial psychiatry, settler colonialism and indigeneity intersected to create political narratives used by French authorities. My overall aim is to show how in Algeria, colonial psychiatry and institutions devoted to the study of human psychology have been used to discredit indigeneity in all its forms: firstly, by looking back to the establishment of an Algerian branch of colonial psychiatry, I am hoping to shed light on how the idea of an “indigenous mind” was rooted not only in science, but also in colonial politics. I then analyse how this new knowledge was instrumental to the establishment of the so-called Fifth Bureau, and to the design of propaganda material at the height of the Algerian War of Independence. This paper, which is part of my larger doctoral project, builds upon the theoretical foundations laid by thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Franz Fanon to highlight the interconnections between power and mental health within settler colonial contexts, in particular the re-elaboration of concepts such as indigeneity and the “primitive mind” to influence public opinion, shape settler colonial and indigenous knowledge production and delegitimise claims to political independence. My presentation draws upon original primary sources gathered through archival work, and will show the need for an open discussion about the portrayal of indigeneity and its strategic connection to the idea of “primitive mind” in settler colonial narratives. On a larger scale, this discussion impacts how we frame knowledge production in settler colonial contexts, and therefore shapes numerous fields of research including settler colonial studies and medical anthropology. Reflections on how psyche, mental health and power intersect are always worthy endeavours, but such reflections take on crucial importance when looking at hegemonic powers and their manipulation of colonial narratives.