Kanak people
New Caledonia languages are divided into several groups. The Northern language group is tonal and includes 12 languages: Caac, Cemuhî, Fwâi, Jawe, Kumak, Nemi, Paicî, Pije, Pwaamei, Pwapwa, Yalayu, and Yuaga. Approximately 60,000 residents of New Caledonia speak at least one of the Kanak languages. Most of these languages are only in spoken form. There is no one unified language among the Kanaks; however, the largest group of Kanaks speak Drehu.
Nicobar pigeon
From subfossil bones found on New Caledonia and Tonga, an extinct species of "Caloenas", the Kanaka pigeon ("C. canacorum") was described. It was about one-quarter larger than the Nicobar pigeon. Considering that it must have been a good source of food, it was most likely hunted to extinction by the first human settlers of its home islands. It probably was extinct by 500 BC. The Spotted green pigeon ("C. maculata") is a more recently extinct species from an unknown Pacific locality; it probably disappeared in the 19th century and most likely succumbed to introduced European rats. It is placed in "Caloenas" as the least awkward possibility; its true affinities are presently indeterminate and it is perhaps more likely to represent a distinct genus of the Indopacific radiation of Columbidae.