Polynesian Agency and the Establishment of the French Centre for Pacific Tests

ABSTRACTSince the 1960s, the installation of the Centre for Pacific Tests (Centre d’expérimentation du Pacifique or CEP) in French Polynesia has given rise to important debates concerning the agency of the populations in relationship to a decision on which they were not consulted. Until now, these debates have often focused on the reactions of the political class. In this article, we propose another approach to these issues by focusing on economic and social questions, with particular attention paid to the multiple strategies implemented by Polynesian workers. As this article demonstrates, while local actors had no say in the decision to set up the CEP in French Polynesia, the actual process of infrastructure construction, the interactions induced by these activities and the transformation of local power relations constituted opportunities for Islanders to develop their own strategies based on their interests and desires, their opinions, and the constraints that weighed unequally on them.Key words: French Polynesianuclear testsagencycolonial situationsocial change Notes1 Vincent Jauvert, ‘Essais nucléaires: Les archives interdites de l’armée’, Le Nouvel Observateur, 5 Feb. 1998; Sébastien Philippe and Thomas Statius, Toxique: Enquête sur les essais nucléaires en Polynésie française (Paris: PUF, 2021).2 The programme is funded by the French Polynesian government through the Delegation for Monitoring the Consequences of Nuclear Tests (2018–21).3 In English, the Atomic Energy Commission – Directorate for Military Applications.4 The testimonies gathered within our research programme complement those collected by Bruno Barrillot and others. See Bruno Barrillot, Les polynésiens et les essais nucléaires. Indépendance nationale et dépendance polynésienne, Commission d’enquête sur les conséquences des essais nucléaires (Pape‘ete, Assemblée de la Polynésie française, 2006); Bruno Barrillot, Témoins de la bombe: mémoires de 30 ans d’essais nucléaires en Polynésie française (Pape‘ete: Editions Univers Polynésiens, 2017).5 Bengt Danielsson and Marie-Thérèse Danielsson, Moruroa, notre bombe coloniale (Paris: L’Harmattan, 1993). First published in French in 1974 as Morurua, mon amour, the revised English language version is Bengt Danielsson and Marie-Thérèse Danielsson, Moruroa mon amour: The French Nuclear Tests in the Pacific (London: Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1977).6 J.W. Davidson, ‘French Polynesia and the French Nuclear Tests: The Submission of John Teariki’, Journal of Pacific History 2 (1967): 149–54.7 Jean-Marc Regnault, ‘Tahiti, avec et sans la bombe’, Vingtième Siècle. Revue d’histoire 53, no. 1 (1997): 55–67.8 Recent examples include Arthur Asseraf, Le désinformateur: Sur les traces de Messaoud Djebari, un Algérien dans le monde colonial (Paris: Fayard, 2022) and, for the Pacific, Christophe Granger, Joseph Kabris ou les possibilités d’une vie: 1780–1822 (Paris: Flammarion, 2022).9 Bernard Dumortier, Les atolls de l’atome (Rennes: Marines éditions, 2004).10 Philippe and Statius, Toxique.11 Emmanuelle Saada, ‘La parole est aux « indigènes »’, Genèses 69, no. 4 (2007): 2–3.12 Olivier Bon, ‘L’insoutenable développement urbain de l’île de Tahiti: politique du « tout automobile » et congestion des déplacements urbains’, Les Cahiers d’Outre-Mer. Revue de géographie de Bordeaux 58, no. 230 (2005): 121–52.13 On these questions, studies by Gilles Blanchet, L’économie de la Polynésie française de 1960 à 1980: un aperçu de son évolution (Paris: Orstom, 1986) and Bernard Poirine, Tahiti. Du melting pot à l’explosion (Paris: L’Harmattan, 1992) have provided useful insights into economic implications but only tentatively broached the social transformations induced by this mode of development.14 Although by now several decades old, the following source is still informative, Marc Cizeron and Marianne Hienly, Tahiti: Côté Montagne (Pape‘ete: Haere Po, 1983).15 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’, in Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, ed. Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1988), 271–313; David Ludden, Reading Subaltern Studies: Critical History, Contested Meaning and the Globalization of South Asia (Glasgow: Anthem Press, 2002).16 Pieter De Vries and Hans Seur, Moruroa e Tatou (Lyon: CDRPC, 1997).17 Frederick Cooper, Decolonization and African Society: The Labor Question in French and British Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); Romain Tiquet, Travail forcé et mobilisation de la main-d’œuvre au Sénégal: Années 1920–années 1960 (Rennes: PUR, 2019); Jean-Pierre Le Crom et al., ‘Histoire du droit du travail dans les colonies françaises (1848–1960)’, Rapport de recherche (Paris: Mission de recherche Droit et Justice, 2017).18 Nicholas Thomas, Islanders: The Pacific in the Age of Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012).19 Georges Balandier, ‘La situation coloniale: approche théorique’, Cahiers internationaux de sociologie 110, no. 1 (2001): 9–29.20 Romain Bertrand, ‘Les sciences sociales et le « moment colonial »: de la problématique de la domination coloniale à celle de l’hégémonie impériale’, Questions de Recherche, June, 2006, 41.21 See, for example, Benoît Trépied and Adrian Muckle, ‘In the Long “Run”: Kanak Stockmen, the Cattle Frontier and Colonial Power Relations in New Caledonia, 1870–1988’, Oceania 80, no. 2 (2010): 198.22 Tracey Banivanua Mar, Decolonisation and the Pacific: Indigenous Globalisation and the Ends of Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016).23 Jean-Marc Regnault, L’ONU, la France et les décolonisations tardives: l’exemple des terres françaises d’Océanie (Aix-en-Provence: Presses Universitaires d’Aix-Marseille, 2013).24 Renaud Meltz, Alexis Vrignon and Sylvain Mary, ‘Imperial Resurgence: How French Polynesia Was Chosen as the Site for the French Centre for Pacific Tests (CEP)’, Journal of Pacific History 58, no. 3 (2023): 251–79.25 Sarah Mohamed-Gaillard, L’Archipel de la puissance? La politique de la France dans le Pacifique Sud de 1946 à 1998 (Bruxelles: Peter Lang, 2010).26 Jean-Marc Regnault, ‘La survivance des institutions coloniales après 1945. L’exemple du Conseil Privé du Gouverneur des établissements français d’Océanie: l’occasion manquée de 1947’, Revue française d’histoire d’outre-mer 86, no. 324 (1999): 293–304.27 Véronique Dimier, ‘De la décolonisation … à la décentralisation. Histoire de préfets « coloniaux »’, Politix 14, no. 53 (2001): 203–25.28 Claire Laux, Les théocraties missionnaires en Polynésie au XIXe: Des cités de Dieu dans les Mers du Sud ? (Paris: Editions L’Harmattan, 2000).29 ‘Rapport secret du gouverneur au ministre de l’Outre-mer sur « l’installation en Polynésie d’un centre d’essai pour armes spéciales »’, 17 Jul. 1962, Service du Patrimoine Archivistique et Audiovisuel, Pape‘ete (hereinafter SPAA), 48W 16/1.30 ‘Rapport (secret) du gouverneur au ministre de l’Outre-mer’, 9 May 1962, SPAA, 48W 16/1.31 ‘Rapport concernant la cession gracieuse, par le territoire, des atolls de Moruroa et Fangataufa à l’Etat français, présenté à la Commission Permanente par Monsieur le Conseiller Jacques Drollet’, 1964, Archives de l’Assemblée Territoriale, Pape‘ete.32 Ben R. Finney, ‘Polynesian Peasants and Proletarians: Socio-Economic Change among the Tahitians of French Polynesia’, Journal of the Polynesian Society 74, no. 3 (1965): 269–328.33 Between 1959 and 1962, the import ratio fell to 56 per cent and inflation reached 22 per cent. See Blanchet, L’économie de la Polynésie française, 30.34 Intelligence Bulletin, ‘Minutes of the 9 May 1967 Territorial Assembly Administrative Session, 11 May 1967’, Defence Historical Service (Service Historique de la Défense), Vincennes (hereinafter SHD), GR 13 R 160/1.35 See, for example, Regnault, ‘Tahiti avec ou sans la bombe’.36 Interviews of personalities who toured the Moruroa and Hao sites on 10 and 11 September 1965 in ‘Governor’s political report for September 1965’, 8 Oct. 1965, Archives Nationales, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (hereinafter AN), 19940165/15. Union tahitienne démocratique-Union pour la nouvelle République.37 Excerpt from an address by Joseph Lehartel, president of the Pueu district council (21 Sept. 1965) in ‘Governor’s political report for September 1965’, 8 Oct. 1965, AN, 19940165/15.38 By way of comparison, the United States only performed nuclear tests in various areas of the Pacific for ten years, from 1952 to 1962, before they moved to the Nevada Test Site.39 ‘Compte-rendu de la conférence sur la main-d’œuvre tenue à Pape‘ete’, 30 Jan. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.40 French Polynesian Assembly, ‘Audition de M. Gérald Coppenrath devant la commission d’enquête chargée de recueillir tous les éléments d’information sur les conséquences des essais nucléaires aériens entre 1966 et 1974 pour les populations de la Polynésie française’, 16 Sept. 2005, 4,http://moruroa.assemblee.pf/medias/pdf/M.%20G%C3%A9rald%20Coppenrath.pdf (accessed March 5, 2023).41 Bishop Mazé to Father Egron, 14 Feb. 1963, Archives of the Archdiocese of Pape‘ete.42 Lieutenant-Colonel Cazes, Study Bureau intelligence newsletter, 28 Sept. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.43 Father Egron to Mgr Mazé, 21 Jan. 1963, Archives of the Archdiocese of Pape‘ete.44 Father Egron to Mgr Mazé, 7 Dec. 1967, Archives of the Archdiocese of Pape‘ete.45 See, for example, a letter from J. Gassmann to the Governor, 6 May 1969, SPAA, 146W 49.46 Damery to the Inspector of Administrative Affairs, 29 Dec. 1965, SPAA, 146W 49.47 ‘Tahitians Angry Over Damage to Noted Missionary’s Grave’, Pacific Islands Monthly, Feb. 1965, 83.48 Secret Report from the Governor to the Minister of the Overseas Territories on the ‘installation of a testing centre for special weapons in Polynesia’, 17 Jul. 1962, SPAA, 48W 16/1.49 Ibid.50 Report on the Pape‘ete conference on the workforce, 30 Jan. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.51 Secretary-General H. Berre (on behalf of the Governor) to the Minister of the Overseas Territories, 22 Jan. 1963, SPAA, 146W 48/1.52 Lieutenant-Colonel Cazes, Intelligence newsletter, 28 Sept. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.53 Interview with a Catholic brother of Ploermel born in 1945, 23 Sept. 2019 (History and memories of French nuclear tests).54 ‘Preliminary question relating to the administration’s paternalistic colonialism, presented by Councillors Calixte Jouette and Henri Marere’, 19 Nov. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.55 Tender documents for carrying out civil works in Pape‘ete and on the Moruroa, Fangataufa and Hao Atolls of the Tuamotu, note dated 19 Nov. 1962, 50, SHD, GR 13 R 143.56 ‘Note on the CEP’, n.d., attached to a letter from the Governor’s Secretary-General to the heads of all administrative districts, 2 Apr. 1963, used for the Governor’s 26 March 1963 presentation to the Government Councillors, SPAA, 146W 50.57 ‘Report on the CEA’s Tahiti mission, 29 Jun.–17 Jul. 1963’, 26 Aug. 1963, 2, Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique - Direction des Applications Militaires (hereinafter CEA-DAM), S7505095. Available online at https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/article.php?larub=371&titre=essais-nucleaires-en-polynesie-francaise (accessed June 14, 2023).58 Ibid., appendix VI, 1.59 Ibid., 2.60 Interview with Noël Frogier, 7 Dec. 2019 (History and memories of French nuclear tests).61 ‘Report on the CEA’s Tahiti mission, 29 Jun.–17 Jul. 1963’, 26 Aug. 1963, 7, CEA-DAM, S7505095.62 Report on the CEP, fascicle II, title III, appendix 22, 20 Jan. 1966, SHD, GR 9 R 891.63 Noël Frogier, interview by Michèle de Chazeaux, C'était hier, Polynésie 1, 1 Oct. 019.64 See Dumortier, Les atolls de l'atome.65 Interview with a Polynesian worker born in 1947, 3 Dec. 2019 (History and memories of French nuclear tests, name of interviewee withheld by mutual agreement).66 John Taroanui Doom, A he’e noa i te tau. Mémoires d’une vie partagée (Pape‘ete: Haere Po, 2016), 49.67 Memo on the meetings held on 15–16 Jan. 1964 in Tahiti with the Ministers of Armies and Research, the CEA’s executive, the Navy Chief of Staff, General Thiry, n.d., 9, SHD, GR 13 R 170,68 Report on the CEP, ‘Port facilities and maritime works’, 20 Jan. 1966, 50, SHD, GR 9 R 890.69 ‘Report on the CEA’s Tahiti mission, 29 Jun.–17 Jul. 1963’, 26 Aug. 1963, appendix VI, 4, CEA-DAM, S7505095.70 Robert to Hirsch, 3 Oct. 1963; ‘Decisions, orientations and deficiencies deplored by the CEA’, 2, CEA-DAM, S7138840.71 Tables showing personnel departures and returns (Leeward Islands), 1966, SPAA, 48W 1996.72 Preparatory file for the 30 April 1965 Defence Council, ‘Status report on the CEA’s construction work for the CEP’, in summary note dated 29 Apr. 1965, 3, Secrétariat Général de la Défense et de la Sécurité Nationale, Paris.73 Final command report by Counter-Admiral Thabaud, Tahiti, 6 Aug. 1965, 9, SHD, GR 13 R 137.74 Emery and Bidon, Report on the CEP, Civil infrastructure resources, Port facilities and maritime works, Paris, 20 Jan. 1966, 10–11, SHD, GR 9 R 890 and 891.75 Ibid.76 Interview with Polynesian worker hired in Moruroa in 1964, 7 Dec. 2019 (History and memories of French nuclear tests, name of interviewee withheld by mutual agreement).77 Raymond Taha, interview in Barrillot, Témoins de la bombe, 14.78 Final command report by Counter-Admiral Thabaud, Tahiti, 6 Aug. 1965, 11, SHD, GR 13 137.79 Interview with a Polynesian volunteer in the 1960s, 16 Oct. 2018 (History and memories of French nuclear tests, name of interviewee withheld by mutual agreement).80 Memorandum from the Governor on labour problems in Oct. 1964, 14 Nov. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.81 Note on J. Damery’s tour of Moruroa (Nov. 7–9), 10 Nov. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.82 Ibid.83 Report on the CEP, fascicle II, title III, appendix 1, 9, SHD, GR 9 R 890.84 ‘Political report July 1965’, SPAA, 48W 742.85 Ibid.86 Lieutenant-Colonel Cazes, confidential note, 28 Sept. 1964, SPAA, 146W 48.87 Report on the CEP, ‘Port facilities and maritime works’, 20 Jan. 1966, 50, SHD, GR 9 R 890.88 Workforce conference proceedings, French Polynesia Territorial Assembly, 6 Jan. 1964, SPAA, 146W48.89 Conference by Vice-Admiral Lorain at the IHEDN, 7 Mar. 1966, 19, SHD, GR 13 R 170.90 General report of the French Senate Finance Committee, annex on National Defence, 1970, https://www.senat.fr/rap/1969-1970/i1969_1970_0056_04_32.pdf (accessed March 5, 2023).91 Final command report by Counter-Admiral Thabaud, Tahiti, 6 Aug. 1965, 9, SHD, GR 13 R 137.92 Controller general of the armies, Temporary Pacific control group, Report on the CEP, fascicle VIII, ‘The CEP’s financial resources’, 15 Jan. 1966, 7, SHD, GR 9 R 890.93 Ibid., fascicle II, Civil infrastructure resources, title II, Aviation facilities, Paris, 23 Oct. 1965, 16, SHD, GR 9 R 890.94 Notebook of a member of a CEP Commission presided by General Crépin, handwritten notes [Vedel?], 3 Oct. 1966, interview with Vice-Admiral Lorain, SHD, GR 9 S 93.95 Thiry to the CEMA, Paris, ‘The CEP’s future organisation’, 18 Nov. 1965, 3, SHD, GR 9 R 890.96 Ibid., 4.97 Crépin mission notebook, handwritten notes [Vedel?], 4 Oct. 1965, SHD, GR 9 S 93.98 Commander of the naval station and the Navy in Pape‘ete, note 4 ‘Discipline’, 24 Jul. 1968, 2, SHD, Brest, 2C 287/1.99 Report on the CEP, fascicle II, title III, appendix 1, 7–8, SHD, GR 9 R 890.100 Report on the Cheliffe mission in the Gambier Islands, 17–30 Mar. 1966, Captain de Corvette de Lassus, on board, Pape‘ete, 13 Apr. 1966 (three distinct reports: ‘Hydrography’, ‘General observations’, and ‘Execution of the mission’), in Hydrography, 4, SHD, Brest, 3 W 1157.101 Thiry to the CEMA, Paris, ‘Future organisation of the CEP’, 18 Nov. 1965, 4, SHD, GR 9 R 890.102 Report by Army General J. Crépin, President of the CEP Commission, Fontainebleau, 7 Dec. 1966, 22–3, SHD, 8 S 627.103 Pacific Directorate for Military Applications to the Head of the Testing Department, ‘Report from the mission in Polynesia’, 9 Oct. 1963, 3, CEA-DAM, S7505229.104 Thiry to the CEMA, Paris, ‘Future organisation of the CEP’, 18 Nov. 1965, 3, 5, SHD, GR 9 R 890.105 Renaud d’Herbais, Larguez le marin! (Roscoff: Editions de la Portenoire, 2001).106 Ibid., 9.107 Bruno Saura, Histoire et mémoire des temps coloniaux en Polynésie française (Pape‘ete: Au vent des îles, 2017).108 Report by Hiva-Oa brigade, Atuona (Hiva-Oa), 21 Dec. 1965, SHD, GD 2007 ZM 1 34685.109 Report by Gendarme Leclerc, Commander of the Tubuai brigade, 18 Jan. 1966, SHD, GD 2007 ZM 1 34685.110 Governor’s political report, 8 Oct. 1965, AN, 19940165/15.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the delegation for monitoring the consequences of nuclear test in French Polynesia (Délégation polynésienne pour le Suivi des Conséquences des Essais Nucléaires, DSCEN).Notes on contributorsRenaud MeltzRenaud Meltz – Maison des Sciences de l’Homme du Pacifique, CNRS, France. renaud.meltz@cnrs.frAlexis VrignonAlexis Vrignon – Centre d'Études Politiques Contemporaines, Université d’Orléans, France. alexis.vrignon@univ-orleans.fr