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This past October on Lifou island, a double-hulled canoe was launched into the lagoon – a seemingly minor event that represented a profoundly important moment.

It was the first launch of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in many decades, an occasion that brought together the island’s three chiefly clans in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was the driving force behind the launch. For the last eight years, he has led a program that aims to revive ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia.

Numerous traditional boats have been constructed in an project designed to reconnect local Kanak populations with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure explains the boats also help the “opening of discussions” around ocean rights and ecological regulations.

Global Outreach

This past July, he visited France and met President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for ocean governance shaped with and by local tribes that recognise their connection to the ocean.

“Forefathers always traveled by water. We abandoned that practice for a time,” Tikoure says. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Traditional vessels hold deep cultural significance in New Caledonia. They once symbolised mobility, trade and family cooperations across islands, but those traditions declined under colonisation and outside cultural pressures.

Cultural Reclamation

The initiative commenced in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was looking at how to restore ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure partnered with the government and two years later the canoe construction project – known as Kenu Waan project – was established.

“The hardest part wasn’t wood collection, it was convincing people,” he notes.

Program Successes

The Kenu Waan project sought to revive heritage voyaging practices, educate new craftspeople and use boat-building to enhance cultural identity and inter-island cooperation.

So far, the organization has organized a showcase, published a book and enabled the construction or restoration of around 30 canoes – from the far south to Ponerihouen.

Material Advantages

Different from many other oceanic nations where forest clearing has diminished lumber availability, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for crafting substantial vessels.

“In other places, they often use marine plywood. In our location, we can still work with whole trees,” he explains. “That represents a significant advantage.”

The boats created under the initiative merge traditional boat forms with regional navigation methods.

Teaching Development

Since 2024, Tikoure has also been teaching seafaring and traditional construction history at the educational institution.

“It’s the first time these subjects are offered at advanced education. It’s not theory – this is knowledge I’ve personally undertaken. I’ve navigated major waters on these canoes. I’ve cried tears of joy during these journeys.”

Pacific Partnerships

Tikoure sailed with the team of the traditional boat, the heritage craft that traveled to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024.

“Across the Pacific, through various islands, this represents a unified effort,” he states. “We’re reclaiming the maritime heritage collectively.”

Policy Advocacy

This past July, Tikoure travelled to Nice, France to share a “Indigenous perspective of the ocean” when he conferred with Macron and additional officials.

In front of government and overseas representatives, he pushed for cooperative sea policies based on Indigenous traditions and local engagement.

“You have to involve them – particularly people dependent on marine resources.”

Modern Adaptation

Now, when mariners from various island nations – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and Aotearoa – come to Lifou, they examine vessels in cooperation, adjust the structure and ultimately navigate in unison.

“We don’t just copy the traditional forms, we help them develop.”

Comprehensive Vision

According to Tikoure, educating sailors and supporting ecological regulations are connected.

“The core concept concerns community participation: who is entitled to move across the sea, and who decides which activities take place in these waters? Heritage boats function as a means to start that conversation.”