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Seventy years after Jean Guiart carried out his investigations in the south of the islands then called New Hebrides (Vanuatu), what remains of Un siècle et demi de contacts culturels à Tanna, the resulting monograph, a remarked ethnographic opus of his early years? This article explores many of the themes and debates raised by his work, traces the critical reception of his findings by anthropologists and then today by the people of Tanna. From the story of John Frum to the sociological inventory of the social groups on the island, from local hierarchies to control over land, his ethnographic legacy is well known, and is likely to play a continuing role in current issues relating to the politics of culture and identity.