A Colonial History Causes Trouble in Paradise

Kanaky New Caledonia has been rocked by violence and tensions since 13 May when young people took their protest over French action to the streets. 

The people of Kanaky have tried to wrest back control of their lands and ocean for generations.  The latest provocation came when France insisted on pushing through legislation to change the constitution, upsetting decades of dialogue and careful negotiation.  The draft legislation that was set to pass through the joint congress when President Marcon called for early elections.  It upset the carefully won balance between the Kanak population and the more recent migrants from France and put in jeopardy their aspirations for independence.  France stands to lose an important economic base in the region that provides income from nickel mining and access to thousands of hectares of the ocean, surrounding Kanaky and Ma’ohi Nui French Polynesia.

France ignored the earlier requests of Kanak leaders to delay a third referendum on independence because of the impact of Covid.  Following the traditional one year of mourning after the loss of loved ones most Kanaks boycotted the election.  France refused to accept their position and introduced legislation that would effectively deny the Kanak people a pathway to independence.  In response young Kanaks took their voices to the streets, blocking roads.  The French responded with guns, a visit by President Macron and new shipments of weapons.  Kanaks were imprisoned in France and work has begun on a larger prison in Noumea to hold the growing number of people arrested for crimes in a country that provides few opportunities for Kanaks.

First visited and named by Captain James Cook, the islands were annexed by France in 1853 by ‘right of discovery’.  Ignoring the many Kanak clans who lived on the land, the colony established two military outposts.  Settlers and a French governor soon followed.  

The governor exerted total control, removing and replacing Kanak chiefs.  By 1868 he confiscated more tribal land without treaty and turned the main island into a penal colony.  Within three years some clan members launched a series of attacks on settlers.  In response the French military killed hundreds of Kanaks, destroyed villages and crops and cut off water supplies.  Every time the Kanaks tried to protect their land, the French took more land, forcing them to seek refuge on lands belonging to other clans and upsetting local subsistence.

 The colonists began mining nickel in 1870 which has proved a rich source of income. Kanaky is now the third largest nickel producer in the world. 

French settlers had little respect for the Kanak people – the name was derogatory but reclaimed as a source of pride by the country’s main clans.  France did not provide schooling or other services to Kanaks. By the beginning of the 20th century the population had fallen from 42,500 to 28,000 people.

It was only in 1951 when France was recognising the rights of those living in its African colonies that Kanak adults were given the right to vote.  Two years later it set up the first free state primary schools for Kanak children. 

There were few options for higher education so it took until 1969 before new leadership could give stronger voice to the growing resentment and the struggle to reclaim the land that had been confiscated.   In 1975, the first activists began calling publicly for independence. Over the next four years support grew to around 80 percent of Kanak voters.

The failure of the French government to recognise Kanak aspirations for independence led to armed clashes in 1984 between the independence movement, settler militias and the French military.  In one incident, settlers claimed the lives of ten Kanaks.  Kanaks continued to push for their lands and in 1986, New Caledonia was successfully reinstated on the United Nations Decolonisation list much to France’s displeasure. 

Under the leadership of the Front de Liberation National Kanak et Socialist (FLNKS), the independence movement agreed to the participation of long-term residents in discussions about the future but not that of more recent immigrants or employees of the French government.  In 1988 on the island of Ouvea l9 Kanak activists were killed when an occupation of the local gendarmie went wrong.

Talks continued and in 1988, the Matignon Accords began a 10-year process towards independence.  Ten years later, the parties agreed to a new agreement called the Noumea Accords involving a series of three referendums on independence involving Kanaks and long-term settlers over 20 years.  The first referendum held in 2018 was followed by another in 2020.  The vote for independence increased from 43.3 percent to 46.7 percent.  However, France unilaterally brought the date of the final referendum forward from 2022 to 2021 despite Kanak opposition.  Kanaks had been badly hit by Covid and were in the midst of the traditional mourning period of one year. France ignored their request, Kanaks boycotted the election and the pro-independence vote dropped to just 3.5 percent. France went ahead with legislation with little opposition.

The Kanak response to such provocation was swift. In May 2024, young people took to the streets to defend their lands and their people.    France responded with heavy fire killing eight Kanaks and then taking prisoners to France.  Two police officers were also killed.

President Macron visited the territory later in May, and more armaments have been delivered.  The Melanesian Spearhead Group has now called for independent monitoring of the situation. David Small of the Kanak Aotearoa Solidarity Group urged the New Zealand Government to declare the third referendum invalid and called on Foreign Minister Winston Peters to stand up for justice and the rights of the Kanak people. 

Additional References

Blood on their Banner, David Robie, Pluto Press 1989

“So near yet to far away: the colonisation and decolonisation of New Zealand New Caledonia”, paper by Dr David Small, University of Canterbury, July 2024.