New Caledonia (France) / All works
Tale
Kanak Legends and Chants de Gestes
Légendes et chants de gestes canaques
Louise Michel · 1885
Synopsis
Louise Michel gathers Kanak legends, that of the cyclone in which a mother saves her sons, that of the healer Keidée and the spirit Ondoué, or that of the chief's daughters who lure a rival into an ambush, and adds animal fables. She also describes the nature of the island, the role of the healers, the pilou dance, music and its instruments, and evokes the revolt of the chief Ataï. The book ends with a lexicon of words in use in the tribes.
Context
Published in Paris in 1885 by Kéva et Cie, the book gathers what Louise Michel had learned during her deportation, by studying the Kanak language and traditions and by reading travellers and missionaries. Pierre Karila-Cohen, in Le Monde in 2019, sees in it the sign of her curiosity about Kanak culture, without concealing her prejudices about the robustness of the “savages”. Claude Rétat has produced a scholarly edition, and Mitch Abidor an English translation online in 2005.
Who it is for
A collection of legends and observations, for reading Kanak New Caledonia through the eyes of a woman deported after the Commune.
Prizes and reception
In her preface, the author says she hears among the Kanak black bards singing the epic of the Stone Age.