The Great Revolt: Franco-Kanak conflict in historical retrospect

This essay takes a macroscopic look at the history of conflict between the Kanaks (used interchangeably with ‘Melanesians’—the natives of New Caledonia) and French settlers. It focuses upon two chief confrontations—the Great Revolt of 1878 and the political ‘events’ of the 1980s. Historical analysis and comparison is applied to these; the interplay between diverging interpretations of history and political polarisation is likewise explored. All translations from French sources to English are the author’s own