🔗 Share this article

In October on the island of Lifou, a traditional twin-hulled vessel was launched into the turquoise waters – a seemingly minor event that represented a highly meaningful moment.

It was the inaugural voyage of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in living memory, an gathering that united the island’s primary tribal groups in a exceptional demonstration of solidarity.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was the driving force behind the launch. For the past eight years, he has overseen a initiative that seeks to restore traditional boat making in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been constructed in an project designed to reconnect local Kanak populations with their seafaring legacy. Tikoure explains the boats also help the “beginning of dialogue” around ocean rights and ecological regulations.

Global Outreach

This past July, he journeyed to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for maritime regulations created in consultation with and by local tribes that acknowledge their relationship with the sea.

“Previous generations always traveled by water. We abandoned that practice for a while,” Tikoure explains. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Canoes hold significant historical importance in New Caledonia. They once stood for movement, interaction and clan alliances across islands, but those practices declined under foreign occupation and outside cultural pressures.

Heritage Restoration

The initiative began in 2016, when the New Caledonia heritage ministry was looking at how to restore heritage vessel construction methods. Tikoure collaborated with the government and two years later the canoe construction project – known as Kenu Waan project – was launched.

“The most difficult aspect didn’t involve harvesting timber, it was gaining local support,” he says.

Project Achievements

The Kenu Waan project sought to revive traditional navigation techniques, mentor apprentice constructors and use vessel construction to enhance traditional heritage and regional collaboration.

Up to now, the team has created a display, released a publication and enabled the building or renovation of around 30 canoes – from the far south to Ponerihouen.

Resource Benefits

Different from many other Pacific islands where deforestation has reduced lumber availability, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for carving large hulls.

“There, they often employ modern composites. Locally, we can still work with whole trees,” he explains. “It makes a crucial distinction.”

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

Educational Expansion

Starting recently, Tikoure has also been teaching maritime travel and heritage building techniques at the local university.

“It’s the first time these topics are taught at graduate studies. It goes beyond textbooks – these are experiences I’ve experienced. I’ve crossed oceans on traditional boats. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness during these journeys.”

Pacific Partnerships

He traveled with the crew of the Fijian vessel, the heritage craft that sailed to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024.

“From Hawaii to Rapa Nui, including our location, we’re part of a collective initiative,” he states. “We’re taking back the sea collectively.”

Policy Advocacy

During the summer, Tikoure visited the French city to introduce a “Indigenous perspective of the ocean” when he met with Macron and other leaders.

Addressing official and foreign officials, he pushed for cooperative sea policies based on Indigenous traditions and participation.

“We must engage them – especially those who live from fishing.”

Current Development

Currently, when sailors from across the Pacific – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and Aotearoa – arrive in Lifou, they analyze boats collectively, modify the design and finally sail side by side.

“We don’t just copy the old models, we enable their progression.”

Holistic Approach

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

“The fundamental issue involves how we involve people: who is entitled to travel ocean waters, and what authority governs which activities take place in these waters? The canoe is a way to initiate that discussion.”