The Pati of New Caledonia

The Pati of New Caledonia, numbering approximately 8,800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Kanak people of New Caledonia's central mountain range between Poindimie and Kone, organized into clans divided into two intermarrying moieties, governed by customary law and ritual oratory unlike most other Kanak groups. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Paicî is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Pati

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: New Caledonia
People Cluster: New Caledonia
Primary Language(s): Paicî (pri)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 8,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018367
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Pati of New Caledonia

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

85%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Paicî
Language Family: Austronesian

78%
%
Paicî Speakers

Media Resources in Paicî:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Paicî:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Paicî bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Pati are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Pati:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Pati of New Caledonia

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
readColossians 2:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be rooted and built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy He has shown them.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
read3 John 1:2

Ask God to grant protection and good health — both physical and spiritual — to those He sends cross-culturally to share the gospel.

Pati Across Countries (ROP3 - 107931) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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