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The year 2024 once again saw New Caledonia marked by violent events, with Noumea, the capital of this South Pacific French territory, gripped by urban warfare against a backdrop of demands for independence. This renewed state of tension recalls the events of the 1980s, which ultimately led to the Matignon (1988) and Nouméa (1998) Agreements. That bloody decade ended with the double assassination in 1989 of the emblematic Kanak independence leaders, Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Yeiwéné Yeiwéné, on the island of Ouvea; during the first anniversary of the commemoration of the hostage-taking of the gendarmes, Djubelly Wéa, a local resident, committed the tragic acts, which immediately aroused a desire to exit from the institutional crisis.The population of Ouvea, which is 98% Kanak, has been forever scarred. The bloody events have touched the collective memory of the islanders to leave a deep wound today. Ouvea was not a settlement colony and therefore knew how to keep its social organization and customary practices intact, while adapting to the modern world, unlike the mainland, which has undergone dramatic upheavals. "During the dark years of its history and to this day, the Kanak people will never abdicate their memory or their connection to the land, or their cultural and social identity and will maintain an unwavering desire to keep and restore local sovereignty," recalls the charter of the Kanak people. Ouvea, given the nickname "island closest to Paradise" by the young Japanese writer Katsura Morimura in the 1970s, presents itself as a land of heritage. Among the 20 tribes that make up the island, Mouli (meaning "the last" in Faga-uvea, one of the two languages spoken there) is located in the southernmost point of the island where the large chiefdom of the district is found. The tribe is now facing another battle, one brought on by the combined effects of global warming: according to the IPCC report, low islands like Ouvea (42 m at the highest) are threatened by submersion, flooding, devastating environmental change. The local population, therefore, risks having to be displaced and uprooted from the land of their ancestors to live in uncertainty far from their landmarks. Diving into the heart of the Kanak world, this portrait of the Mouli tribe brings an understanding of the complex challenges that the French overseas territory must face in the near future, fighting both for self-determination and for survival against the elements.