Conflict, Colonisation and Reconciliation in New Caledonia
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CONFLICT, COLONISATION AND RECONCILIATION IN NEW CALEDONIA Carolyn Margot Nuttall A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy of The Australian National University March 2016 © Copyright by Carolyn Margot Nuttall 2016 All Rights Reserved This thesis presents my own original research. All sources have been duly acknowledged. Except where acknowledged in the customary manner, the material presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge, original and has not been submitted in whole or part for a degree in any university. Carolyn Nuttall 11 March 2016 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Peter Brown for his invaluable advice, his enthusiasm, encouragement, and for introducing me to New Caledonia. I am also grateful to my panel advisor, Dr Chris Ballard. Thanks also to my editor Dr Christine Moore for her unstinting support, patience and painstaking effort. I also state, in accordance with the University’s requirements, that Christine, whose doctorate relates to medieval French literature, made no substantive change whatsoever to my work. Many others have provided support and interest along the way: Dr Niel Gunson, who introduced me to the world of the London Missionary Society, the writings of Ta’unga and of the Reverend Samuel Macfarlane; Professor Jack Golson and his wife Clare, for their constant encouragement. Many in New Caledonia provided invaluable assistance: in Noumea Mme Dominique Egrotti, Mme Marie-Hélène Tran, Charles Yeiwéné and the team at the Archives of New Caledonia, Max Sheckleton and the dedicated members of the Société des Etudes Historiques de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, the staff of the Bernheim Library and of the Tjibaou Centre. At the Do Neva School in Houaïlou, Thomas Carlen and the staff were always prepared to share their precious time; Déwé Gorodé of the l’Embouchure de Ponérihouen tribe was generous with her histories and hospitality; the Napoemien and Tiendanite tribes were also valuable sources of information and hospitality. It has been a long and interesting journey. Special thanks to my long-suffering husband Ray, children Filipa, Andrew and Meg, their partners Heidi and Lennon and my grandchildren Tiger, Austin, Millie, Logan, Abbey and Levi without whose support this would never have been completed. v ABSTRACT As New Caledonia moves towards a decision on self-determination, this thesis traces important moments of conflict in New Caledonia’s recent history and identifies gestures of recognition that might have led to reconciliation. It considers, in particular, cycles of pre- and post-colonial conflict in order to understand the role of customary knowledge and practices amongst the indigenous peoples. Throughout the history of New Caledonia intertribal rivalry has been a major source of conflict. Yet customary self-regulation practices were challenged when each new arrival—missionaries, colonisers and convicts—brought new sources of conflict. Disruption, rapid change and the threat to Kanak survival kept the cycle of conflict extant and reconciliation illusory. Throughout the post-annexation history of the country, statutes, decrees and laws written by French administrators, governors, and politicians have failed to mediate across cultural difference to resolve conflict and achieve reconciliation. Chapters One and Two examine, largely through the eyes of French Catholic Marists and the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, the various sources of intertribal conflict which existed prior to colonisation and the divisions which became more pronounced with the arrival of missionaries, merchants and marines. Following French annexation, the Melanesian population was marginalised as land was expropriated, military reprisals were exacted, missionary work compromised and priests and pastors deported. Ongoing clashes—intertribal, interdenominational and international—set in motion a cycle of conflict which has persisted until the present day. Chapter Three analyses the impact of World War II on New Caledonia and the end of the Indigénat, a period of hope when Kanak citizenship was recognised and there was an enhanced possibility of reconciliation. With the guidance of the churches, the Kanak became more politically aware, yet during this same period schisms within the Protestant Church caused further conflict within the Kanak community in the form of intertribal religious and political divisions. Chapters Four and Five survey the Kanak awakening of 1968 and the tendency over the following decades towards the more militant conflict which culminated in the violent conflict of the 1980s. The events of this period were followed by French-initiated mediation, in which the Churches again vii played a prominent role, and led to the signing of the Matignon Agreements. The reconciliation which accompanied these developments was shallow. A recognition and acceptance of past events has facilitated more recent inter-island and inter-family reconciliation so that with the support of indigenous Church leaders, genuine pardon has been achieved in what may be seen as the maturing of a society. The study reveals that the conflictual events of the past remain painful in the indigenous collective memory and will need to be addressed further if the cycle of conflict is to be broken so that lasting reconciliation may be achieved and translated into the destin commun for the country’s inhabitants that is prefigured in the Noumea Accord. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS ..................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER 1 Missionaries, Sandalwooders and Intertribal Warfare on the Loyalty Islands and Grande Terre: 1840-1853 ................................... 15 CHAPTER 2 The Military, Missionaries, Melanesians and Governors in Conflict: the Colonial Period ................................................... 43 CHAPTER 3 World War II and its Aftermath ......................................... 101 CHAPTER 4 The Kanak Awakening, May 68 and Beyond ...................... 129 CHAPTER 5 Conflict, Tragedy and Reconciliation: the Événements and Beyond .................................................................................................... 169 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 209 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 215 APPENDIX Maps of the Tribes of New Caledonia ................................... 249 ix LIST OF ACRONYMS ADCK Agence de développement de la culture kanak ADRAF Agence de développement rural et d’aménagement foncier AENCNH Association des étudiants de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et des Nouvelles-Hébrides AICLF Association des indigènes calédoniens et loyaltiens français CAFAT Caisse d’allocations familiales et des accidents du travail CPDI Comité de protection et de défense des indigènes CRS Compagnies républicaines de sécurité DGSE Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure DOM-TOM Départements et d’outre-mer et territoires d’outre-mer ÉÉNCIL Église évangélique en Nouvelle-Calédonie et aux îles Loyauté EFO Établissements français d'Océanie EHESS École des hautes études en sciences sociales EPA Entente pour l’autonomie EPIGN Escadron parachutiste d'intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale EPKNC Église protestante de Kanaky Nouvelle-Calédonie FI Front indépendantiste FLNKS Front de libération nationale kanak et socialiste FNSC Fédération pour une nouvelle société calédonienne FULK Front uni de libération kanak GIGN Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale 1 IFO Institut français de l’Océanie INALCO Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales INCO International Nickel Company INSEE Institut de la statistique et des études économiques JORF Journal officiel de la République française LKS Libération kanak socialiste LMS London Missionary Society ORSTOM Office de la recherche scientifique et technique outre-mer PALIKA Parti de libération kanak RPCR Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la République RPR Rassemblement pour la République SLN Société le Nickel SMEP Société des missions évangéliques de Paris UC Union Calédonienne UICALO Union des indigènes calédoniens amis de la liberté dans l’ordre USTKE Union syndicale des travailleurs kanaks et des exploités 2 INTRODUCTION Soyons unis, devenons frères, Plus de violence ni de guerre. Marchons confiants et solidaires Pour notre pays National anthem of New Caledonia The undeniable sentiments of fraternity, peace, and optimism for the future are clearly expressed in the new ‘national anthem’ of New Caledonia. However, these sentiments have not always been present during New Caledonia’s troubled history. ‘Guerres fréquentes’ (Brainne 1854), ‘la loi des armes […] le déclenchement du nouveau processus de violence qui a embrasé ces jours-ci la Nouvelle-Calédonie’ (Le Monde , 6 May 1988a) , ‘la tension en Nouvelle-Calédonie’ (Le Monde 24 April 1988b) and ‘l’insurrection canaque’ (Le Monde 15 January 1985b) are frequent themes in the colonial historiography of New Caledonia. In this thesis, I propose to consider a number of contexts in New Caledonia’s history which saw religious, cultural, racial and ideological differences result in conflict, and to discuss the various attempts to mediate and resolve tension and to achieve reconciliation. The history of New Caledonia has been peppered with regular cycles of