Kanak people

The Kanak, Melanesians of New Caledonia speaking diverse Oceanic Austronesian tongues, number 112,000, 41 percent of the territory. Lapita footprints reach 3000 years back, 1000 BCE, and Polynesian sailors have mixed with Kanak blood for centuries. Yam mounds, fishing weirs, great meeting houses with towering fleche spires and the carved guardians that watch them order clan life; custom, coutume, rules marriage, mourning and land. France annexed the islands in 1853, made them a territory in 1956, and nickel mines, settlers and the army followed; the 1984 independence rising and the Noumea Accord keep Kanaky's fate voting. Customary senates, independence rallies and the Tjibaou Cultural Centre keep Melanesian New Caledonia demanding its own name. Oceanic languages differ valley to valley. Caldoche and Zoreille neighbours share the towns. Polynesian blood has mixed for centuries. The 1853 annexation is taught in every school. The 1967 revolt's memory fuels today's rallies. Independence rallies still fill the streets yearly.