Kanak is an originally Polynesian term to define “man”. Since 19th centuries it was used by merchants and explorers to indicate Melanesian populations and its meaning became increasingly pejorative, because it was pointing the slaves working on the sails, in the mines and fields, and so on. The term was firstly used by French “canaque” during their colonial presence, then by 1970s it was translated in the English “Kanak”. New Caledonians aimed to return this word and give a new symbolic dimension, which now defines the New Caledonia’s inhabitants.
Kanak culture grounds on the oral tradition and through the word asserts its world’s vision. The traditions are built over an immaterial heritage wherein the word orders sensations and concepts, which entwine sounds and feelings to show a world understanding in a stream of changes. The language is created by the words as well as by proverbs, songs, tales, even by body languages.
Kanak language unifies the duality of verb and noun in the single word. Places and persons’ names entwines each other intertwining reality and imaginary: their world vision. The verb is the word giving life both to sensible things as humans or stuffs and to insensible as spirits and ancestors.
Wooden statues are placed at the entrance hiding the body: the dead was enrolled in a tablecloth, represented by geometrical patterns, and the wood comes from a dead tree, which is equivalent to the dead man. The oldest sculptures are represented by peaceful visages with closed eyes, recalling oriental traditions; the most recent sculptures with open eyes means they lost their tranquility.