Kanaks

## Language And Script

Bislama: 210,00030+ Indigenous Kanak languages:
West Uvean: 3,000

## Related Ethnic Groups

South Oceanids Austronesians Ni-Vanuatu

**Kanak** (French spelling until 1984: **Canaque**) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. The Kanaks are a sister people to the Ni-Vanuatu. Though Melanesian settlement is recorded on Grande Terre's Presqu'île de Foué as far back as the Lapita culture, the origin of the Kanak people is unclear. Ethnographic research has shown that Polynesian seafarers have intermarried with the Kanaks over the centuries.

New Caledonia was annexed to France in 1853, and became an overseas territory of France in 1956. An independence movement, which led to a failed revolt in 1967, was restarted in 1984, pursuing total independence from French rule. When the 1988 Matignon agreements were signed between the representatives of France and New Caledonia to decide on holding the referendum for independence, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the Kanak leader of the independence movement, had mooted a proposal to set up an Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture (ADCK). After Tjibaou's assassination in 1989, the French President François Mitterrand ordered that a cultural centre on the lines suggested by Tjibaou be set up in Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia; it was to be the last of Mitterrand's *Grands Projets*. The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre was formally established in May 1998.

Although ancient Lapita potteries date back to 1500 BC, and the people of the island have long been involved in the arts, since the establishment of the ADCK, Kanak arts and crafts have become more popular in New Caledonia. Wooden carvings in the shape of hawks, ancient gods, serpents and turtles are popular as is *flèche faîtière*, a carving which resembles a small totem pole with symbolic shapes. Music, dance and singing are part of many a Kanak ceremonial function and dances are performed during the traditional Kanak gatherings with the objective of cementing relationships within the clan and with ancestors.

Uveans also settled the Loyalty islands of New Caledonia, and created a hybrid group between them called the West Uveans.

## Etymology (Kliagud)

The word "Kanak" originates from Hawaiian, their word for people, Europeans applied that word to any Pacific Islander which included the Kanaks.

## History (Histri)

The earliest history of Europeans arriving on these islands is when Captain James Cook of the Kingdom of Great Britain landed in these islands in 1775 at a time when there were reportedly 70,000 Kanaks living in the archipelago. Fifty years later, the Protestants of London Missionary Society came to New Caledonia, which was followed by entry of the French Catholics to the island, in 1843. This resulted in a conflict between the two religious factions and eventually the French Catholics' control of the islands prevailed. The island nation was thereafter annexed by France, in 1853.

During the colonial period, in the 19th century, Kanaks were recruited or enslaved, to perform unfree labour in places such as Australia, California, Canada, Chile and Fiji (with the inter-Asian slave trade to India, Japan, South Africa, and what is now Malaysia). During the 3,000 years that Kanaks lived in the remote islands, they were unprepared for the arrival of European viruses and bacteria. The Kanaks were uprooted from the land and were employed as forced labour on French plantations, ranches and public works.

When Kanaks were forced to move to reserve areas of the island, closer to the mountains, they occupied only 10 per cent of the area of their ancestral territories given that their population had declined so dramatically due to disease, and their living conditions became very hard. This situation arose consequent to induction of 20,000 convicts by the French government between 1864 and 1897, most of whom settled permanently in the country, and who were employed to extract nickel (beginning with 1864) and copper from 1875 onwards. This caused serious resentment among the Kanaks who revolted in 1878 against the French colonial rule, which was suppressed by the French who were better armed. The Kanak leader was decapitated, and his head was put on display in the Museum of Natural History.

After repeated referendums, New Caledonia rejected independance from France.

## Language (Lanwis)

 ------- On the table the 27 languages of the Kanak people are displayed, and sorted based on spoken region onto the map, the map also includes West Uvean, a Polynesian language spoken by mixed 'Uveans-Kanaks, which is labelled as #28 on the image. Bislama and French are the main languages of communication among the Kanak and Caledonians.

## Food (Kaekae)

Bougna is a traditional Kanak casserole, considered a national food by many Kanaks. It is made of sliced root vegetables which might include taro, manioc, yams and coconut milk. Pork, chicken or seafood may be used in the filling which is then wrapped in poingo banana leaves before being cooked over hot stones in an earthen oven. Other local ingredients used in Kanak cuisine include *Rousettus* (flying foxes) and local deer; marine staples such as lagoon and coral reef fish (including dawa), as well as crabs and lobsters. Paita beans are locally grown haricots, while custard-apple, lime and saffron are other local ingredients.

## Music (Miusik)

Music, dance and singing are part of many a Kanak ceremonial function such as initiation, courting and mourning. Conch shells are blown by an appointed person to represent a clan chief's arrival or the voice of an ancestor. Rhythm instruments used include Bwanjep, used during ceremonies by a group of men; Jew's harp, (*wadohnu* in the Nengone language where it originated) made of dried piece of coconut palm leaf held between the teeth and an attached segment of soft nerve leaf; coconut-leaf whizzer, a piece of coconut leaf attached to a string and twirled that produces a noise like a humming bee; oboe, made of hollow grass stems or bamboo; end-blown flute, made of 50 cm long hollowed pawpaw leaf stem; bamboo stamping tubes that are struck vertically against the ground and played at major events; percussion instruments (hitting sticks, palm sheaths); rattles that are worn on the legs made of coconut leaves, shells and certain fruits. Kanak groups such as Bethela first made the recordings on cassette around 1975 or 1976.

Dances are performed during the traditional Kanak gatherings with the objective of cementing relationships within the clan and with ancestors. Dance is performed in the form of a message or a legend, often related to their daily activities or important events such as birth, marriage, circumcision, the death of a chief and so forth. Dancers paint themselves colourfully to please the ancestors watching over them. Wooden masks made of local materials such as bark, feathers and leaves adorn them representing a physical link with the invisible world.

The Festival des Arts du Pacifique, the Festival of Pacific Arts, is organized every four years. Dancers are trained in traditional dances in special workshops. Welcome dances performed by groups are very popular. Of the various dance forms, the *pilou-pilou* dance is a unique dance form of the Kanaks, which recounts many stories of the clans. The *pilou-pilou* dance form of the Kanaks, now almost extinct, was so named by the early French missionaries of New Caledonia and involved stomping with bamboo tubes and beating of bark-clappers accompanied by singing in duets with shrieks and whistles of hundreds of dancers. However, in view of very strong nature of this form of dance, with a trance-like status attained by the dancers, these have been banned; the last such dance reported was in 1951.

## Beliefs (Bilif)

Today, most Kanaks are Christians. Religion is an important aspect of Kanak culture. The Roman Catholic church in Nouméa is attended by Kanaks, who form nearly 50% of the population of Catholics in New Caledonia (next only to the Europeans). Also, the majority of Protestants are Kanaks.

The Kanaks were known to worship their ancestors. This worship was embodied in the sepulchre, sacred stones, and devotional hearths where they offered sacrifices. According to the traditional beliefs of the Kanak people, the sea is sacred as it provides them with "fish for food", so they treat it with great reverence. The folk stories created by the Kanak people attest to this fact and are also strictly followed as unwritten laws. Some of the important aspects of the oral laws relate to environmental protection and conservation, such as the closure of fishing operations when the fish stocks are on the decline, and fishing rights in certain areas are strictly observed with respect to locals.

  Related Content