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During the autumn month of October on Lifou, a ancient-style canoe was pushed into the turquoise waters – a small act that signified a highly meaningful moment.

It was the first launch of a heritage boat on Lifou in generations, an occasion that brought together the island’s three chiefly clans in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the past eight years, he has led a project that aims to revive traditional boat making 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 help the “opening of discussions” around sea access rights and ecological regulations.

International Advocacy

This past July, he journeyed to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for marine policies developed alongside and by Indigenous communities that acknowledge their maritime heritage.

“Previous generations always traveled by water. We forgot that knowledge for a while,” Tikoure says. “Currently we’re rediscovering it again.”

Canoes hold deep cultural importance in New Caledonia. They once stood for travel, exchange and family cooperations across islands, but those practices declined under colonisation and outside cultural pressures.

Tradition Revival

The initiative started in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was exploring how to restore heritage vessel construction methods. Tikoure collaborated with the government and two years later the canoe construction project – known as Project Kenu Waan – was launched.

“The most difficult aspect didn’t involve cutting down trees, it was convincing people,” he notes.

Initiative Accomplishments

The initiative aimed to restore traditional navigation techniques, train young builders and use vessel construction to enhance traditional heritage and island partnerships.

Up to now, the organization has produced an exhibition, released a publication and enabled the construction or restoration of nearly three dozen boats – from the southern region to the northern shoreline.

Resource Benefits

In contrast to many other Pacific islands where forest clearing has limited wood resources, New Caledonia still has suitable wood for carving large hulls.

“In other places, they often use marine plywood. Here, we can still work with whole trees,” he states. “This creates a significant advantage.”

The canoes built under the Kenu Waan Project combine Polynesian hull design with regional navigation methods.

Academic Integration

Starting recently, Tikoure has also been educating students in maritime travel and ancestral craft methods at the University of New Caledonia.

“For the first time ever this knowledge are taught at master’s level. It goes beyond textbooks – it’s something I’ve lived. I’ve navigated major waters on these canoes. I’ve experienced profound emotion during these journeys.”

Pacific Partnerships

Tikoure sailed with the crew of the Fijian vessel, the Pacific vessel that sailed to Tonga for the oceanic conference in 2024.

“Throughout the region, through various islands, this represents a unified effort,” he explains. “We’re reclaiming the sea together.”

Policy Advocacy

In July, Tikoure travelled to the European location to share a “Kanak vision of the sea” when he met with Macron and government representatives.

Addressing official and international delegates, he argued for cooperative sea policies based on local practices and local engagement.

“We must engage these communities – most importantly fishing communities.”

Modern Adaptation

Currently, when sailors from various island nations – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and Aotearoa – arrive in Lifou, they examine vessels together, modify the design and ultimately sail side by side.

“We’re not simply replicating the traditional forms, we make them evolve.”

Comprehensive Vision

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

“The fundamental issue involves community participation: what permissions exist to move across the sea, and who decides what occurs there? The canoe serve as a method to start that conversation.”