Ceremony held in La Foa, in the presence of civilian and military authorities September 2025. Photo: Facebook/ Sud province
An earlier version of this story reported the heritage of a man shot and killed in New Caledonia on 18 September as being of Kanak heritage. This has been corrected to say he is of Wallisian heritage.
This week in New Caledonia marks the anniversary of colonisation.
France annexed the Kanak islands in 1853 and remains the administering power to this day.
Local media reported official ceremonies have been more discreet this year with no public statements.
But for many supporters of independence, it's a day of mourning.
A journalist who's reported on New Caledonia for decades, Nic Maclellan, told Pacific Waves that during the period of the Noumea Accord, there was an attempt to promote it as a day of citizenship, "of so-called common destiny, bringing different communities together".
High security measures have been in force for the symbolic week.
Nic Maclellan said the atmosphere in the territory had already been tense after a man of Wallisian heritage was shot and killed on 18 September.
He went on to say that there was a lot of dispute about this with the independence coalition, the FLNKS, issuing a statement, "expressing concern that some of the gendarmes deployed from France to New Caledonia don't really know the local context".
He said on top of that, there's a level of concern about the health system, education and access to services like public transport.
"So despite the calm that's ruled mostly this year, the very fact that there are police on the streets, that alcohol sales have been banned around the 24th of September commemoration, shows that there's a lot of underlying tension in the society," Maclellan said.
Political stability, independence and indigenous rights remain key issues in the French territory.
To mark Citizenship Day, the FLNKS, along with other bodies, issued a statement saying that they "proclaim with determination their desire to see the country of their ancestors access full sovereignty".
However, there's also the side who wants to keep the status quo.
The territory is waiting on the implementation of the Bougival agreement - the latest political deal brokered by its law makers with France, something the FLNKS has voiced objection to.
