New Caledonia or Kanaky?
French colonialism has made New Caledonia a bipolar society, in ethnic
terms. Indigenous Kanak comprise 45% of the local population, caldoches
(descendants of European settlers and convicts) 35%, and Asians and
Polynesians 20%. The latter two social categories usually vote loyalist,
while the Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) wants
independence. After violence in the 1980s, the Matignon Accord postponed a
referendum on independence until 1998. The FLNKS controls the North and
Islands, while the loyalist Rassemblement pour la Caledonie dans la
Republique (RPCR) rules the more populous, industrial South. Nickel mining
has kept France interested in retaining New Caledonia, but in the 1990s new
political alignments make the future hard to predict. What do you think is
the solution, "Kanaky"?
Robert Aldrich: France and the South Pacific since 1940.
John Connell: New Caledonia or Kanaky? The Political History of a French
Colony.
Thierry Desjardins: Nouvelle-Caledonie: Ils veulent rester francais.
Myriam Dornoy: Politics in New Caledonia. J
ean Guiart: La terre est le sang des morts.
Stephen Henningham: France and the South Pacific.
Maurice Leenhardt: Gens de la Grande Terre, and Do Kamo.
Martyn Lyons: The Totem and the Tricolor.
David Robie: Blood on Their Banner, chapters 4-7, 14-15.
Alain Saussol: L'Heritage.
Michael Spencer et al: New Caledonia: Essays on Nationalism and Dependency.
Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff: The French Pacific Islands: French
Polynesia and New Caledonia.
Jean-Marie Tjibaou: Kanake: The Melanesian Way.
Alan Ward: Land and Politics in New Caledonia
Articles:
Bronwen Douglas: "Conflict & Alliance in a Colonial Context: Case Studies
in New Caledonia," JPH 15-1 (1980) 21-51.
John Connell: "Wallis and Futuna: Stability and Change at the Ends of
Empire," in Robert Aldrich (ed.): France, Oceania, and Australia: Past and
Present, 91- 116.
Jean Guiart: "Forerunners of Melanesian Nationalism," Oceania 22-2 (1951)
81- 90, and "Progress and Regress in New Caledonia," JPH, 27-1 (1992), 3-28.
Jean Houbert: "Settlers and Natives in Decolonization," The Round Table,
295 (1985) 217-29.
Linda Latham: "Revolt Re-examined: the 1878 Insurrection in New Caledonia,"
JPH 10-3 (1975) 48-62.
Susanna Ounei: For Kanak Independence: The Fight Against French Rule in New
Caledonia.
Karl Rensch: "Wallis and Futuna: Total Dependency," in Politics in Polynesia.
Alain Saussol: "New Caledonia: Colonization and Reaction," in R.Crocombe
(ed.): Land Tenure in the Pacific.
Jean-Marie Tjibaou: "The Renaissance of Melanesian Culture in New
Caledonia," Ethnies, 8-9-10 (Spring 1989), 74-78.
Yann Celene Uregei: "New Caledonia: confrontation to colonial rule," in
Politics in Melanesia.
http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/external/psiweb/chappe13.html
Tjibaou's Dream of Independence � Portrait of Jean-Marie Tjibaou,
assassinated leader of Kanaky's independence movement. SBS, Saturday,
February 15, 7.30pm.
