Nickel and Division: Economic Colonialism

New Caledonia possesses 25% of global nickel reserves, shaping its colonial experience and contemporary challenges. Nickel mining created: - Massive environmental destruction - Wealth concentration among European settlers - Kanak displacement from mineral-rich lands - Boom-bust economic cycles - Deep social stratification

"Nickel is our curse disguised as blessing," analyzes economist Dr. Séverine Bouard. "It generated wealth that maintained colonial structures while preventing economic diversification."

The Société Le Nickel (SLN), long controlled by French interests, symbolized economic colonialism. Kanak workers faced discrimination, dangerous conditions, and exclusion from management.

"My father died at 45 from mining dust in his lungs," recounts union leader Pierre Ayawa. "They took our land, poisoned it, then killed us mining it. Triple colonization."

Post-war immigration, particularly from Wallis and Futuna, Indonesia, and Vietnam, created additional complexity. These communities, brought for labor, developed their own relationships with both Kanaks and Europeans.

"We're caught between," explains Wallisian leader Petelo Sao. "Not indigenous like Kanaks, not privileged like Europeans. Finding our place in independence discussions is challenging."