🔗 Share this article

In October on Lifou island, a double-hulled canoe was pushed into the lagoon – a small act that marked a highly meaningful moment.

It was the maiden journey of a traditional canoe on Lifou in living memory, an occasion that united the island’s three chiefly clans in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has spearheaded a program that works to resurrect traditional boat making in New Caledonia.

Numerous traditional boats have been crafted in an effort aimed at reconnecting local Kanak populations with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure explains the boats also help the “start of conversation” around sea access rights and conservation measures.

Global Outreach

During the summer month of July, he travelled to France and met President Emmanuel Macron, calling for ocean governance developed alongside and by local tribes that acknowledge their relationship with the sea.

“Our ancestors always navigated the ocean. We lost that for a period,” Tikoure says. “Currently we’re rediscovering it again.”

Heritage boats hold significant historical importance in New Caledonia. They once symbolised mobility, trade and tribal partnerships across islands, but those customs faded under foreign occupation and outside cultural pressures.

Heritage Restoration

The initiative commenced in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was looking at how to reintroduce heritage vessel construction methods. Tikoure worked with the government and after two years the canoe construction project – known as the Kenu Waan initiative – was launched.

“The most difficult aspect wasn’t harvesting timber, it was persuading communities,” he says.

Project Achievements

The initiative worked to bring back ancestral sailing methods, mentor apprentice constructors and use vessel construction to enhance cultural identity and inter-island cooperation.

So far, the team has produced an exhibition, issued a volume and enabled the creation or repair of approximately thirty vessels – from Goro to the northeastern coast.

Material Advantages

In contrast to many other Pacific islands where forest clearing has reduced wood resources, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for crafting substantial vessels.

“There, they often employ marine plywood. Here, we can still work with whole trees,” he explains. “It makes a crucial distinction.”

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

Teaching Development

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been teaching seafaring and heritage building techniques at the local university.

“This marks the initial occasion these topics are taught at master’s level. It goes beyond textbooks – it’s something I’ve personally undertaken. I’ve crossed oceans on these canoes. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness while accomplishing this.”

Regional Collaboration

Tikoure sailed 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, we’re part of a collective initiative,” he says. “We’re taking back the sea together.”

Governance Efforts

This past July, Tikoure journeyed to the European location to share a “Kanak vision of the sea” when he had discussions with Macron and government representatives.

Addressing official and international delegates, he argued for collaborative ocean management based on Indigenous traditions and local engagement.

“We must engage these communities – especially people dependent on marine resources.”

Current Development

Now, when mariners from across the Pacific – from Fiji, Micronesia and Aotearoa – visit Lifou, they study canoes in cooperation, adjust the structure and finally sail side by side.

“We’re not simply replicating the old models, we make them evolve.”

Integrated Mission

In his view, teaching navigation and advocating environmental policy are linked.

“The core concept concerns how we involve people: what permissions exist to navigate marine territories, and what authority governs which activities take place there? Traditional vessels serve as a method to start that conversation.”