It is by transmitting skills that the Kanak spoken word continues to develop. It weaves ties, speaks about the world and gives it meaning. It can be soft, light, joyous or profound. It aids grandmothers as they educate their granddaughters.

At a time where the Kanak society is modernizing, the young people educated in French public schools have trouble identifying with their customs. Some have not received a traditional Kanak education and are losing their reference points. The rate of delinquency or drug and alcohol consumption among young people has gone up in recent years. So this time of sharing skills is seen as a way to assert one’s identity.

Une quête de la vérité sur la route des larmes

C'est à l’hôtel Bonaventure de Montréal qu'ont eu lieu les premières auditions de la commission d’enquête. Fanny Wylde retrouve Cheryl, de la communauté Mohawk, sidérée par le désintérêt de la police pour la recherche de sa sœur après le signalement de sa disparition. Carleen, mère de trois enfants, sera retrouvée par hasard par un chasseur, sept semaines plus tard, à deux kilomètres de chez elle. Morte. Elle s'est suicidée. Cheryl s’interroge encore sur une forme de racisme, l’apathie politique et l’indifférence des médias qui font passer ces crimes pour de simple faits divers. Pour Cheryl et pour toutes les autres familles de victimes, la commission d’enquête offre une lueur d’espoir et de justice.

During customary exchanges, the objects given to others have both an economic and symbolic value. They even represent the intention and soul of the person who offers them. The women’s role is to weave a network between clans by offering mats woven in pandanus fibers.

But today, under the influence of modern society, these mats have often been replaced by industrial mats that are made in China. So on the advice of the customs Senate, Isabelle launched the “Pandanus” operation in 1995 whose goal is to teach mat weaving and re-plant this tropical plant in large quantities since its dried leaves are used for weaving the mats. Today the welcome mat once again has a role in customary exchanges.

A LIFE DEDICATED TO WOMEN'S CAUSES

For 3,000 years, the Kanaks have inhabited an island in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Corsica. But a violent encounter took place when the Europeans arrived in 1853. The colonists pushed the indigenous people into the mountains and put them in reservations. After this, the Kanaks undertook a long combat to salvage their identity that is anchored in their roots, their clan, their tribe, their land and their customs.

In the 1970’s Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a leading, combative figure who represented this native people, made the Kanaks proud when he organize the Melanesia 2000 festival so others could discover their rich cultural heritage. In 1988 the Matignon agreements confirmed this identity renewal by creating an agency to develop the Kanak culture (ADCK) and also built the Tjibaou cultural center.

Women find their place in these actions for refocusing on Kanak culture since they are integral to transmitting skills, especially weaving mats, a symbolic item customarily exchanged during ceremonies.

They also see it as a way to emancipate themselves and they are thus the motor for this new economy and the evolution of their tribal roles.