Koné, New-Caledonia. Alban Bensa, ethnologist, has just returned to the tribe where he's been working for 30 years. His principal Kanak colleague, Antoine, has been dead for two years. Antoine's son Samy, age 33, has discovered his father's notebooks and recordings. Before his death, Antoine had been intensely engaged in political and traditional actions to obtain recognition of the rights of his clan to the massif of Koniambo. The mining of this massif, very rich in nickel deposits, was entrusted by the independentist leaders of the Northern Province to a nickel multinational, la Falconbridge, based in Toronto. But long before the arrival of the Whites (1853), Kanak clans lived in this massif. Their many paths patterned the sides of these mountains, their dead found refuge there, and the spirits of their ancestors still haunt these sacred sites. Alban and Samy trace the route taken by Antoine to learn how the old and wise Kanak achieved the recognition of his clan by the multinational. In so doing, we review New Caledonia's recent history: colonization, revolts, the problems encountered in the march towards independence, all of which appear in the mirror surrounding Antoine's shadow.