NEW CALEDONIA: WOMEN AND THE KANAK LIBERATION
STRUGGLE
Sousanna Ounei
Sousanna Ounei, a Kanak from French-occupied New
Caledonia, spoke to the Assembly about the struggle of her people, the
indigenous people of New Caledonia, against French colonialism in this South
Pacific island nation. She is an official spokesperson from the Kanak
Independence Front which is comprised of five major parties. Much of her
address dealt with struggle of women within the independence movements. (She
gave this address shortly before the recent assassination of several Kanak
leaders by white settlers.)
Dream to Reality
As I didn’t grow up within my tribe in the island of
Ouvea, but with my aunty in Noumea, I became aware very early of the racist
practices of the French administration. At the convent school I attended, the
white kids got all the attention, while the Kanak were virtually ignored. The
teachers always used to call us insulting names, terms invented by the early
settlers to make us feel less than human. I used to get really upset by this,
and remember when I was 12 thinking that one day a totally black movement would
be formed to struggle against these injustices.
My dreams became a reality in September 1969, when
Nidoish Naisseline, the high chief of Mare, returned to New Caledonia from
France and established a political group called the ‘Red Scarves’. Naisseline
stressed the importance of reclaiming the name Kanak, because you see even this
word was used in a derogatory way. Before we used to disown the name, we would
say a Melanesian but not a Kanak, because the whites referred to us as ‘dirty
Kanaks’, insulted our old people like this, so that they were ashamed of their
identity. So the Red Scarves began by restoring Kanak pride, and then started
to organize the Kanak people.
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Treatment of Women
Our protest actions at that time were met with brutal
police intervention, especially since there are not many of us then, Naisseline
was in fact imprisoned for 6 months, and we soon learnt what to expect from the
authorities. It was also around this
time that I became disturbed about the way in which the men in the group were
treating the women. They only seemed to include women, so that they could sleep
with them after the meetings. I tended
to stay in the background at meetings at that time, just to watch what was
going on and avoid being chased after.
Fortunately there was a really strong woman in the group called Dewe
Gorody, who used to take part in
the actions, and we became very close friends and talked about these things
together.
Grassroots Work
Because Naisseline was from Mare, there tended to be
a majority of Loyalty Islanders in the Red Scarves, and the young people from
La Grande Terre felt they did not have a voice. They also challenged the fact that Loyalty Islanders were more
privileged because they had better educational opportunities and were favoured
in the work force. We explained to them
that this was a result of deliberate government policy aimed at dividing the Kanak population,
similar to the way immigrant workers were brought from Tahiti, Wallis and
Futuna to provide cheap, submissive tabour.
So to respect their grievances, we decided then in 1974 to set up
regional groups, as this would also facilitate work at grassroots level.
One of the groups formed in La Grande Terre called
'1878' (this marks the year the great Kanak chief Atai was killed by the French
for revolting against the land thefts) focussed its actions around September
24, the date back in 1862 when France took possession of New Caledonia by
military force, the same as the Waitangi Action Committee In Aotearoa focussed
on February 6, the date the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. The first time '1878' demonstrated to oppose
the government's celebration, they were batoned by the army, and 2 members were
arrested. Members of the Red Scarves
were sentenced. The police gave us no
warning before they moved in to beat us up. Twelve activists were sentenced to
6 months, myself and Dewe included. The September 24 actions were instrumental in mobilising the Kanak
population. The different regional
groups moved through the country, explaining why '1878' had protested, and why
we had been arrested. Kanak people gave money for 2
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lawyers to be brought over from France to
dispute the sentences, and they were successful in getting them reduced to two
months. The lawyers pointed out that there was a strong resemblance with the
former situation of Algerian political prisoners during French political rule.
Racist Killing
Another event which really united Kanak people was the
shooting of 22 year old Richard Kamoude by a racist French cop on December 27,
1975. The Red Scarves and ‘1878'
organised protest demonstrations in
which over 3,000 people participated, marching
daily for 2 weeks through the streets of Noumea, despite blockades of
police armed with batons, tear gas and automatic rifles. The cop received a suspended sentence and
later was promoted into the Ministry responsible
for the administration of New Caledonia. As young activists, we were so angered
by such injustice and so disillusioned by the failure of the 4 Kanak
representatives in the Territorial Assembly to do something about it, that we
decided to form our own political party,
PALIKA, the Kanak Liberation Party. We
weren't interested in getting reformist legislation passed, we wanted our land
back, we wanted our freedom.
My flat served as the party's base at that
stage. We worked day and night writing
articles, leafletting, organising actions and education programmes in Noumea
and the tribal areas. We studied Marxism
to deepen our understanding of oppression, as we felt that If was no longer
sufficient to analyse our exploitation merely in terms of blacks and whites as we had in 1969.
Men Refuse Challenge
At that time Dewe and I were also pushing for the
recognition of the constraints placed on women within the tribal structure, as
well as within the party. It wasn't
easy; the men's egos were bruised and they accused us of exaggerating things
and of copying the feminists in France. Nonetheless, we continued to point out
the contradictions in their political analysis — they talked of liberation for
their people, but treated their wives like kitchen slaves. Under pressure, a number of different
independence parties set up women's sections, but these turned out to be mere
token gestures. It looked good to have women
accompanying them on their campaigns, just so long as they kept their mouths
shut. The Territorial Assemblies even decided
to appoint a woman to be in charge of Women's Affairs, but
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the woman they chose for the position had no idea, just how to dress
nicely, teeter around in high heels and generally make a good impression.
At the party congress in 1979, Dewe and I stormed out
in anger at the men’s refusal to listen to our demands as women. Some later apologized,
but when we suggested that it was time they took turns cleaning up the office
they all got indignant, saying we were making a big fuss about nothing and that
women were much better suited for sweeping up their houses than men. It is
taking a long time to change their attitudes, and even now not enough. They
have accepted our position and that is all.
Applying Pressure
Back in 1979, there were also divisions emerging
within Palika: some of us didn’t agree on strategies. In the end, Naisseline,
myself and others left and founded the Kanak Socialist Liberation Party of
which two members are part of the Kanak Independence Front within the Territorial
Assembly. We felt that it was important to work in this governmental structure
that some of the older independence leaders were not bought off by the French
compromises, like the Statute of International Autonomy they are trying to
impose on us at present. We are there to apply pressure when needed: e.g., in
forcing the Independence Front to denounce the round-table talks at Nainville,
La Roche last year, at which the Mitterand government announced that an
understanding had been reached between the right-wing parties and the
Independence Front on the future political status of New Caledonia. This is an
absolutely impossible position while racist white settlers are arming in an uneasy
way in the country areas, Kanaks are assassinated and continue to live in
appalling poverty on reserves and in urban ghettos.
A women’s committee was formed in the LKS (Liberation
du Kanak Socialiste). There was a women’s section in all the New Caledonia
independence parties, but they didn’t change anything.
Even in the LKS it was the husbands who formed the
women’s sections, and their activities were limited to sewing and making cakes
for the party. When I tried to bring up the problems of teenage mothers or
battered wives, they said it was just theory.
New Women’s Group
In 1983 I gave up trying to
influence the women’s sections within
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the party and formed a Kanak women’s group, the Groupe des Femmes Kanaks
Exploitees en Luttee (GFKEL).
We still have to take some
very strong stands to get the men to take our ideas seriously and it’s very
difficult.. We take part in political action at all levels. We decided to take
action to demand the release of Kanaks arrested after the Koinde tribe had
protested against a sawmill owner whose milling operation had polluted the
river on which the tribe depended for survival. Six of us chained ourselves to
the railings of the French Governor’s residence for 20 hours until the cops
came and removed us. They didn’t press charges so that night we went to the
local television station at the time the news was being broadcast live, to
publicise the reasons for our action. We threw a statement in front of the
newsreader and chanted “Release the Koinde prisoners. Kanak independence now.”
After all these actions, we (the GFKEL) posed the
problem of battered women because we were always seeing women with bruised
faces and teenage mothers who have suffered because of ignorance about
contraception. We also asked about the status of women in the struggle and
after independence. This question was rather embarrassing for some men. They
understand the problems of colonialism, but they don’t understand the women’s
struggle. We have realized that we only we women can do anything about it.
1984 and After
The French Government has
been under increasing international pressure to decolonise and has been
sandwiched between the demands of the Kanak Independence Front and the white
colonists. In its tradition of failed reformism, the French Government has cast
about for a path of action which would present a good image to the world while
appeasing all sides in New Caledonia. In addition, it has had to face the stark
reality that the territory is economically totally unprepared for independence.
While international attention
is being captivated by the three way negotiations on independence (French Government,
Kanak people, white colonists), the real influence on the final form of New
Caledonia’s independence is coming from behind the scenes. The local
capitalists and multinational corporations are already bribing and manipulating
to secure their future interests. (New Caledonia is the second highest producer
of nickel. It also exports coal, chrome, manganese, iron, cobalt, zinc, coffee
and copra. Its economy depends on these exports and tourism.)
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Electoral Injustice But Ready to Fight
The French Government’s
immigration policies have ensured that the Kanak population becomes a minority
(60,000 Kanak out of a total of 130,000 and half of the Kanak population is
under 25). Without disenfranchising part of the immigrant population, the Kanak
will never achieve independence through a referendum. The Kanak people will
have suggested that the franchise be restricted to those persons with at least
one parent born in New Caledonia. (Non-Kanak people in this category number
30,500). In this way the Kanak Independence Front recognizes some white and
non-white (Polynesian, Chinese) as “victims of history” and is willing to grant
them voting rights.
It should be noted that the
Kanak are marginalized from the economy. Out of 60,000 Kanak, only 7,000 are in
paid employment and the majority of these are in low status, unskilled jobs.
Only 100 Kanak are training or studying in France.
The current situation in New
Caledonia must be publicized internationally. By 1853, the French had reduced
the Kanak population from 200,000 to 26,000. Our grandmothers used to hide their
children from the massacres of the colonial army. Thanks to this we are 60,000
strong today. We are organized and we are ready to fight.