Kanak

Kanak religion is the traditional belief of the Kanak, the Melanesian people of New Caledonia, who had no single state or common name for themselves before Europeans came. They worshipped their ancestors at the burial place, at sacred stones and at hearths where sacrifices were offered, and held the sea sacred, with oral laws closing fishing when stocks fell.

Carvings of hawks, ancient gods, serpents and turtles, and the flèche faîtière, a carved roof finial like a small totem pole, expressed their beliefs. Captain James Cook landed in 1774, when some 70,000 Kanak were reported to live on the islands, and named them New Caledonia. Missionaries of the London Missionary Society followed about half a century later.