We’re sitting on mats in the garden around a public housing tower in Noumea, as a small group of women and elders listen to updates from independence activists about the ongoing crisis in New Caledonia.
Local residents—mostly indigenous Kanak—are proudly flying the flag of Kanaky rather than the French tricolour. The apartment buildings are covered in graffiti, denouncing the French police and conservative anti-independence politicians. But our discussion soon moves from politics to the economy. People are doing it tough, losing work and access to public services since conflict erupted across New Caledonia . . .
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