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By the end of the 19th century there ned symbiotic relations between some Baining groups and those Tolai living on the shore and the islands of Weberhafen (Ataliklikun Bay). Early European visitors took them to be a general state of dependency of the former on the latter. More often than not the position was described as slavery, an interpretation that was chosen and then advocated in various circles by the Roman Catholic Mission. The present paper aims at explaining why and how this may have happened. Through cross-examining all evidence available in archival and published documents of the time it should, hopefully, throw some light on such issues as intertribal relations and the history of Melanesian conversion to Christianity.

The myths and other data, dealing with the Houaïlou valley in New Caledonia proper, col-

In 1980, as the condominium of the New Hebrides was about to become the new, independent nation of Vanuatu, two major secession moves, one on the island of Tanna and another one on Espiritu Santo, occurred threatening to tear this island nation apart. In this paper the dominant political ideology involved in the secession attempt on Santo is discussed to point up its historical complexity and internal contradictions. Autochthonous traditionalism and its main political proponent on Santo, the Nagriamel movement, in using the concept of kastom in fact draw on many non-traditional contents. Far from having been the last hurrah of a conservative tribalism opposed to its incorporation into a modern western-type nation and imminent immersion into a faceless citizenry, the secession turns out to have, to a considerable extent, been inspired by a colonial ideological heritage, as rich as it is diverse and already considerably removed from pre-European cultural and ideological roots.

New Caledonia is one of the many societies where occupational categories tend to coincide with ethnic groups. In this multi-ethnic society, 50 to 60 % of working Melanesians live off the land ; they account for more than 88 % of all those engaged in agriculture. The rural sector and its unequal land distribution are therefore at the heart of the ethnic mobilisation terising the political crisis that has built up over the past ten years. From 1978 to 1985, increasingly marked political divisions triggered the first land reforms in the Territory's history. These reforms should eventually double the present total area of Melanesian reserves on the mainland. By the end of 1985, 59 000 ha had been retroceded, with the provision that the land be developed. This situation has brought about an unprecedented increase in Melanesian joint stock- farms. Their number rose from 3 prior to 1978 to 71 in 1985. This has had many consequences for Melanesian agrarian structures. For instance, access to the coastal plains entails economic advantages that tend to reinforce discrepancies between villages, as is shown by transfers occurring between Melanesians of the newly retroceded land. Other internal redistributions, similarly demonstrate a trend towards reorganisation of pre-colonial land rights under the combined pressure of sédentarisation and the monetary economy. Furthermore, the extensive land areas required for livestock farming raises the problem of how to affect the transition from fragmented pre-colonial land rights to the pooling of resources required for large commercial ventures. Lastly, the land reforms enable adjustments to be made in the land access inequalities brought about by the combined action of precolonial land allocation patterns, unequal population growth among the groups, and the reservation system. But the long-term value of the reforms lies in the opportunity they afford for a re-balancing of economic conditions between the ethnic groups. Redistribution of lands and their deve- lopement are thus seen as a keystone for the overall evolution of the New Caledonian society.