D'un mode de produire à l'autre : un siècle d'élevage bovin mélanésien en Nouvelle-Calédonie

Abstract

Although the history of cattle-raising by Melanesians in New Caledonia is made of a succession of various formulas — ail of which still currently in existence — , thèse do not proceed from an evolutionary line that would stretch back to the establishment of the first rearing practices, more than a century ago. The outset of each of these various formulas, as well as their subsequent developments, are enmeshed in the peculiar set of structural relationship shaping up the New Caledonian social System along with its Melanesian component at that very period. Melanesians who are invested with specific social assets geared to the dominant conditions of the period are henceforth able to get new or additional opportunities to practice cattle-rearing. In that context, changing conditions in cattle-raising among Melanesians are largely framed within the administrative control over land, within or outside reservation lands, a situation inherited from the colonial land policies enacted up by the turn of this century.

In the Long ‘Run’: Kanak Stockmen, the Cattle Frontier and Colonial Power Relations in New Caledonia, 1870–1988

“…The anglophone linguistic legacy remains omnipresent in the terminology of station life (Dubois 1984: 44-46) and it is likely that practices imported from Australia were equally enduring. The early pattern of development and exploitation involved the deliberate overstocking of unfenced concessions 1 resulting in the gradual degradation of pasture and the herd (Pillon 1989: 513; Saussol 1985: 6-7) and conflict with both European smallholders and Kanak, as well as dictating the need for mustering and stockmen.…”

“…By 1928 the Melanesian herd was estimated at 5000 cattle and 5700 horses. However, it would be the 'socio-economic, political and property transformations of the post-war period' that saw the real expansion of the Melanesian herd ( Connell 1987: Pillon 1989114;Saussol 1979: 423-424). From the 1950s onward, the Kanak share of the industry gradually increased, accounting for thirteen percent of farms by the early-1980s (Dubois 1984).…”

“…While some of the relations or dynamics described here will be familiar from other parts of the world such as Australia (e.g., Baker 1999: 102-116;Brock 1995;McGrath 1987;May 1994;Paterson 2008;Stevens 1974) and the Americas (e.g., Iverson 1997), including Hawaii (Fischer 2007), in the context of New Caledonia this is a pioneering study which develops, and brings together, our earlier research on the history of the Koné region (Muckle 2004(Muckle , 2006Trépied 2007) and our realisation of the importance of the stockman as a political figure. Several studies have documented the historical development of the cattle industry in New Caledonia (Dubois 1984;Pillon 1989;Saussol 1979) and noted the participation of Kanak, but none has closely examined this participation from the perspective of either social, cultural, political or labour history (let alone environmental, ecological or archaeological perspectives). As a result, the dominant image of the extension of the cattle frontier in New Caledonia remains that of a 'fatal impact', documenting the ways in which Kanak were pushed off their land by cattle or provoked into revolt but seldom discussing other practical forms of Kanak engagement with the industry.…”