Susanna Ounei
Susanna Ounei was born in 1945 in Ouvéa in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia.
Her official birthdate was 15 August 1945, although later in life she found that this date may have been incorrect.
She grew up in Poindimié on the east coast of New Caledonia.
Under French colonial rule the Kanak population fell from about 70,000 in the pre-colonial era to about 26,000 in the 1980s.
The Kanaks were segregated from whites and were subject to many restrictions and impositions.
Ounei wrote that "We grew up seeing how our parents were humiliated."
Serious Kanak resistance began to develop in the 1960s and 1970s.
In response, the French government encouraged massive migration to New Caledonia to reduce the Kanaks to a powerless minority.
Nestor (genus)
There are two surviving species and at least one well documented extinct species in the genus "Nestor". Very little is known about the fourth, the Chatham kaka, which may have been conspecific with another kaka species.Of the four species, the Norfolk kaka and Chatham kaka became extinct in recent history. The last known individual of the Norfolk kaka died in captivity in London sometime after 1851, and only between seven and 20 skins survive. The Chatham kaka became extinct in pre-European times, after Polynesians arrived at the island, between 1550 and 1700, and is only known from subfossil bones. The mainland New Zealand kaka is listed as endangered, and the kea is listed as vulnerable.