Résumé
During the preparation of the expedition Santo 2006, some tension appeared between certain members of the ni-Vanuatu administration and the French organizers of this huge expedition. In this paper, we analyze the relationships between sciences and societies revealed by the cultural politics of this country. The current international debates about bioprospection along with the notion of Prior Informed Consent and the emergence of "a new indigenous question" constitute the complex background in which such tension becomes meaningful.