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During the autumn month of October on Lifou, a double-hulled canoe was launched into the coastal lagoon – a simple gesture that signified a profoundly important moment.

It was the maiden journey of a traditional canoe on Lifou in many decades, an gathering that brought together the island’s main family lineages in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was the driving force behind the launch. For the past eight years, he has led a project that seeks to restore ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been constructed in an project aimed at reconnecting Indigenous Kanak people with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure explains the boats also facilitate the “opening of discussions” around maritime entitlements and environmental policies.

Global Outreach

This past July, he travelled to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for maritime regulations created in consultation with and by Indigenous communities that honor their relationship with the sea.

“Our ancestors always crossed the sea. We forgot that knowledge for a time,” Tikoure says. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Canoes hold profound traditional significance in New Caledonia. They once stood for movement, interaction and clan alliances across islands, but those traditions declined under foreign occupation and outside cultural pressures.

Heritage Restoration

His journey started in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was looking at how to reintroduce heritage vessel construction methods. Tikoure collaborated with the government and following a two-year period the boat building initiative – known as Kenu Waan project – was born.

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

Initiative Accomplishments

The initiative sought to revive traditional navigation techniques, mentor apprentice constructors and use boat-building to enhance community pride and island partnerships.

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

Resource Benefits

Unlike many other island territories where deforestation has limited timber supplies, New Caledonia still has suitable wood for carving large hulls.

“There, they often employ marine plywood. Here, we can still carve solid logs,” he explains. “This creates a crucial distinction.”

The canoes created under the initiative integrate Polynesian hull design with Melanesian rigging.

Academic Integration

Since 2024, Tikoure has also been educating students in seafaring and heritage building techniques at the local university.

“This marks the initial occasion these topics are offered at graduate studies. It goes beyond textbooks – it’s something I’ve experienced. I’ve sailed vast distances on these canoes. I’ve experienced profound emotion during these journeys.”

Regional Collaboration

He voyaged with the team of the Fijian vessel, the heritage craft that journeyed to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024.

“Across the Pacific, including our location, it’s the same movement,” he states. “We’re taking back the ocean as a community.”

Governance Efforts

In July, Tikoure travelled to Nice, France to share a “Traditional understanding of the sea” when he met with Macron and government representatives.

Addressing official and overseas representatives, he pushed for cooperative sea policies based on Kanak custom and participation.

“You have to involve these communities – particularly those who live from fishing.”

Modern Adaptation

Currently, when mariners from across the Pacific – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and Aotearoa – visit Lifou, they study canoes in cooperation, refine the construction and eventually voyage together.

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

Holistic Approach

For Tikoure, teaching navigation and advocating environmental policy are connected.

“The core concept concerns public engagement: who has the right to travel ocean waters, and who determines what occurs on it? Traditional vessels function as a means to start that conversation.”