Waala, l’anomalia di un villaggio kanak (Nuova Caledonia)

Abstract

Waala, in the Belep archipelago, is the result of the encounter with and the interplay between local powers and external projects. Neglected notion in French anthropological literature, Waala is an actual “Kanak village”. The present alternation between different settlement patterns reveals a creative meshwork of traditional and recent aspects, visible in ceremonies. The relationship between the central village and the scattered clan traditional homesteads, nearby yam plantations, are dynamic and ambiguous. While the village is the place for great ceremonies, for conflict, for an excessive sociality, the plantations are the place of cultural intimacy.