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This past October on the island of Lifou, a double-hulled canoe was set afloat in the coastal lagoon – a seemingly minor event that marked a profoundly important moment.

It was the first launch of a traditional canoe on Lifou in generations, an occasion that brought together the island’s main family lineages in a rare show of unity.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has led a initiative that aims to revive traditional boat making in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been built in an initiative aimed at reconnecting Indigenous Kanak people with their seafaring legacy. Tikoure states the boats also help the “start of conversation” around ocean rights and environmental policies.

Diplomatic Efforts

This past July, he travelled to France and met President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for ocean governance shaped with and by Indigenous communities that recognise their maritime heritage.

“Our ancestors always navigated the ocean. We abandoned that practice for a while,” Tikoure explains. “Currently we’re rediscovering it again.”

Canoes hold profound traditional meaning in New Caledonia. They once symbolised movement, interaction and clan alliances across islands, but those traditions declined under foreign occupation and missionary influences.

Heritage Restoration

This mission began in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was looking at how to restore ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure worked with the administration and after two years the vessel restoration program – known as Project Kenu Waan – was launched.

“The most difficult aspect was not cutting down trees, it was convincing people,” he explains.

Project Achievements

The program worked to bring back traditional navigation techniques, train young builders and use boat-building to strengthen cultural identity and inter-island cooperation.

To date, the organization has created a display, issued a volume and supported the construction or restoration of around 30 canoes – from the far south to the northeastern coast.

Resource Benefits

Unlike many other oceanic nations where deforestation has diminished timber supplies, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for crafting substantial vessels.

“There, they often use synthetic materials. Locally, we can still craft from natural timber,” he states. “This creates all the difference.”

The canoes constructed under the initiative merge traditional boat forms with regional navigation methods.

Educational Expansion

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been instructing seafaring and heritage building techniques at the educational institution.

“This marks the initial occasion this knowledge are offered at advanced education. This isn’t academic – this is knowledge I’ve experienced. I’ve sailed vast distances on these vessels. I’ve cried tears of joy while accomplishing this.”

Island Cooperation

He traveled with the crew of the traditional boat, the Pacific vessel that sailed to Tonga for the regional gathering in 2024.

“From Hawaii to Rapa Nui, from Fiji to here, it’s the same movement,” he states. “We’re restoring the maritime heritage as a community.”

Governance Efforts

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

Addressing official and foreign officials, he argued for shared maritime governance based on local practices and local engagement.

“It’s essential to include local populations – particularly people dependent on marine resources.”

Modern Adaptation

Today, when sailors from across the Pacific – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and Aotearoa – arrive in Lifou, they examine vessels in cooperation, adjust the structure and eventually voyage together.

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

Comprehensive Vision

According to Tikoure, instructing mariners and supporting ecological regulations are linked.

“It’s all about public engagement: who is entitled to navigate marine territories, and who determines which activities take place on it? The canoe is a way to start that conversation.”