In the Kanak society, yam is not only essential for its energy intake but it enjoys a privileged status. Treated with the respect due to elders and ancestors. It is at the center of customary exchanges and the cycle of its more or less precocious harvests conditions the traditional Kanak social calendar. The cultivation of its different varieties, mainly of the Dioscorea alata species, is documented on many Kanak engraved bamboos.