Life in New Caldonia

Ann Voskamp linked to some fabulous photos of life by the seas. This one is from Mare, New Caldonia. New Caldonia is a special collectivity of France in the south west Pacific Ocean. It was discovered by a Brit in 1774, and the French in 1788. Slaves were taken from the islands and forced to work in the cane fields of Queensland and Fiji in the 1800s. That stopped at the turn of the twentieth century. Today 250,000 people live there.



Wikipedia says that

The first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s.[12] In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed and eaten by the Pouma clan.[13] Cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia.[14]

In June 1940, after the fall of France, the Conseil General of New Caledonia voted unanimously to support the Free French government, and in September the pro-Vichy governor was forced to leave for Indochina.[16] In March 1942, with the assistance of Australia,[17] the territory became an important Allied base,[16] and Nouméa the headquarters of the United States Navy and Army in the South Pacific.[18] The fleet which turned back the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 was based at Nouméa.

In 1946, New Caledonia became an overseas territory.[10] By 1953, French citizenship had been granted to all New Caledonians, regardless of ethnicity.[19]

New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity to which France has gradually transferred certain powers.[20] It is governed by a 54-member Territorial Congress, a legislative body composed of members of three provincial assemblies.[21] The French State is represented in the territory by a High Commissioner.[21] At a national level, New Caledonia is represented in the French Parliament by two deputies and two senators.[22] At the 2012 French presidential election, the voter turnout in New Caledonia was 61.19%.[23]

By the way, did you hear that cannibalism is still being practiced today in the Congo? There was an item on the news today about a tribal warfare issue ending with one tribe being eaten.