New Caledonia Marks Years of French Rule With Parade
NOUMEA, New Caledonia — Native Kanak and descendants of French and other settlers paraded a giant wooden statue Saturday through the streets of Noumea on the South Pacific island of New Caledonia, turning the 152nd anniversary of its annexation by France into a celebration of ethnic diversity.
Festivities began with a procession through Noumea, in which representatives of each of New Caledonia’s ethnic groups took turns carrying the massive statue, which symbolized the island’s first man.
“This is a day to celebrate our national identity,” said 44-year-old Tony Solomon, who is of mixed French, Indonesian and Kanak heritage.
Kanak tribesmen danced alongside the descendants of New Caledonia’s French settlers and members of the island’s Vietnamese, Korean, Arab, Chinese, Javanese, Polynesian and Melanesian communities.
New Caledonia, a country of 220,000 about 745 miles east of Australia, has been ruled by France since 1853.
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