🔗 Share this article

During the autumn month of October on Lifou, a double-hulled canoe was set afloat in the coastal lagoon – a small act that signified a deeply symbolic moment.

It was the first launch of a traditional canoe on Lifou in generations, an gathering that assembled the island’s three chiefly clans in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was instrumental in the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has overseen a initiative that aims to revive heritage canoe building in New Caledonia.

Many heritage vessels have been crafted in an project intended to reunite local Kanak populations with their maritime heritage. Tikoure states the boats also facilitate the “beginning of dialogue” around ocean rights and conservation measures.

Global Outreach

In July, he visited France and met President Emmanuel Macron, calling for maritime regulations created in consultation with and by Indigenous communities that honor their relationship with the sea.

“Our ancestors always navigated the ocean. We forgot that knowledge for a while,” Tikoure states. “Today we’re reclaiming it again.”

Heritage boats hold profound traditional meaning in New Caledonia. They once symbolised travel, trade and family cooperations across islands, but those customs faded under colonial rule and outside cultural pressures.

Cultural Reclamation

His journey started in 2016, when the New Caledonia heritage ministry was considering how to bring back ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure collaborated with the administration and two years later the vessel restoration program – known as Project Kenu Waan – was established.

“The biggest challenge was not cutting down trees, it was persuading communities,” he explains.

Program Successes

The program worked to bring back heritage voyaging practices, train young builders and use boat-building to reinforce traditional heritage and island partnerships.

To date, the group has created a display, published a book and enabled the construction or restoration of around 30 canoes – from Goro to the northern shoreline.

Material Advantages

Unlike many other island territories where deforestation has limited lumber availability, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for crafting substantial vessels.

“In other places, they often use marine plywood. In our location, we can still craft from natural timber,” he explains. “This creates a crucial distinction.”

The boats created under the Kenu Waan Project merge Polynesian hull design with local sailing systems.

Academic Integration

Starting recently, Tikoure has also been educating students in seafaring and heritage building techniques at the local university.

“This marks the initial occasion these subjects are offered at master’s level. This isn’t academic – it’s something I’ve personally undertaken. I’ve sailed vast distances on these canoes. I’ve experienced profound emotion doing it.”

Island Cooperation

He voyaged with the members of the traditional boat, the Pacific vessel that sailed to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024.

“From Hawaii to Rapa Nui, from Fiji to here, we’re part of a collective initiative,” he states. “We’re restoring the sea as a community.”

Policy Advocacy

During the summer, Tikoure journeyed to the European location to share a “Traditional understanding of the sea” when he conferred with Macron and government representatives.

Addressing official and foreign officials, he argued for collaborative ocean management based on local practices and participation.

“You have to involve local populations – particularly fishing communities.”

Modern Adaptation

Now, when navigators from various island nations – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and New Zealand – visit Lifou, they study canoes together, modify the design and eventually voyage together.

“We’re not simply replicating the ancient designs, we enable their progression.”

Comprehensive Vision

According to Tikoure, instructing mariners and advocating environmental policy are interrelated.

“The core concept concerns how we involve people: who has the right to travel ocean waters, and what authority governs what occurs there? The canoe serve as a method to initiate that discussion.”