On 4 October 2020, the second referendum for independence in Kanaky New Caledonia was held. I followed events from Aotearoa, hoping that this would be the year that the Kanak people would achieve independence. Sadly, this was not the outcome. Over 85% of the eligible population voted but the ‘oui’ votes fell just short (around 47% voted ‘yes’ and 53% voted ‘no’). The Noumea Accords allow for a third referendum in 2022 if, as has happened, independence has not been gained through the first two.
The greatest obstacle facing the pro-independence voters is the fact that the Kanak have been deliberately kept a minority. Violent settler colonialism has seen – through massacres, disease, land theft and sustained systemic racism – the reduction of the Kanak population to around 39%. Moreover, the opening of the doors to francophone migrants from elsewhere, often with white supremacist or pro-French views (the Pied-noirs from Algeria who flooded into New Caledonia in the 1960s an obvious example), has stacked the population with more and more voters who have vested interests in maintaining the colonial régime. And this is true even if there are voting restrictions – voters need to have lived in New Caledonia since the end of 1994, to have been born there or have Indigenous Kanak status.
Shortly after the results came out, my friend, the Kanak poet Denis Pourawa, expressed his feelings about the outcome of the referendum in a poem. The pain, dignity, anger, pride, and, ultimately, optimism for the next referendum articulated in this poem seemed important to share more widely – across the Pacific and beyond. I asked him if I could translate it. He agreed and so here it is (my English version and also the original poem for readers who also speak French).
My Thoughts for my Kanak People
My thoughts for my Kanak People,
You, my People, who rose up
to exercise your legitimate right
to claim your dignity
in your country
Your country
still held tightly in the bonds
of French colonialism
My thoughts for my Kanak People,
You, who with peace in your hearts
and your Oceanian spirit,
have shown your responsibility
as humanist Citizens
by going to vote
calmly
in the face of
colonialist intimidation
My thoughts for my Kanak People,
You have lost another battle
But you keep smiling…
You know that the sun only sets
on the horizon
so it can rise again tomorrow
Long live the Kanak People!
©Denis Pourawa
Translated by Karin Speedy, 06/10/2020
Mes pensées à mon Peuple Kanak
Mes pensées à mon Peuple Kanak,
Toi mon Peuple qui t’est levé pour excercer ton droit légitime de revendication de ta dignité dans ton pays
Ton pays toujours sous l’emprise du joug colonial français.
Mes pensées à mon Peuple Kanak,
Toi qui dans la paix du coeur et de ton esprit Océanien tu as démontré ta responsabilité de Citoyen humaniste en allant voter calmement, face aux intimidations colonialistes.
Mes pensées à mon Peuple Kanak,
Tu as perdu une nouvelle bataille mais tu gardes le sourire…
Tu sais que le soleil ne fait que se coucher à l’horizon pour se relever demain
Vive le Peuple Kanak !
©Denis Pourawa, 05/10/2020
Embruns 