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During the autumn month of October on Lifou island, a ancient-style canoe was pushed into the coastal lagoon – a simple gesture that represented a deeply symbolic moment.

It was the first launch of a traditional canoe on Lifou in many decades, an event that united the island’s main family lineages in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was instrumental in the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has spearheaded a program that seeks to restore heritage canoe building in New Caledonia.

Numerous traditional boats have been crafted in an project intended to reunite Indigenous Kanak people with their seafaring legacy. Tikoure states the boats also help the “start of conversation” around ocean rights and ecological regulations.

International Advocacy

This past July, he travelled to France and had discussions with President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for marine policies developed alongside and by local tribes that acknowledge their maritime heritage.

“Our ancestors always traveled by water. We forgot that knowledge for a while,” Tikoure states. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Traditional vessels hold significant historical meaning in New Caledonia. They once stood for travel, trade and tribal partnerships across islands, but those practices faded under foreign occupation and outside cultural pressures.

Cultural Reclamation

The initiative began in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was exploring how to reintroduce ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure collaborated with the government and following a two-year period the canoe construction project – known as Project Kenu Waan – was launched.

“The hardest part wasn’t wood collection, it was convincing people,” he explains.

Program Successes

The program sought to revive traditional navigation techniques, educate new craftspeople and use canoe-making to reinforce traditional heritage and regional collaboration.

So far, the team has created a display, published a book and supported the building or renovation of nearly three dozen boats – from the southern region to the northern shoreline.

Material Advantages

Different from many other Pacific islands where forest clearing has limited lumber availability, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for constructing major boats.

“In other places, they often employ synthetic materials. In our location, we can still craft from natural timber,” he says. “This creates a crucial distinction.”

The vessels built under the initiative combine Polynesian hull design with regional navigation methods.

Teaching Development

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been educating students in navigation and ancestral craft methods at the educational institution.

“This marks the initial occasion this knowledge are included at advanced education. It goes beyond textbooks – it’s something I’ve lived. I’ve navigated major waters on traditional boats. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness during these journeys.”

Regional Collaboration

Tikoure sailed with the team of the Uto ni Yalo, the Fijian canoe that sailed to Tonga for the regional gathering in 2024.

“Across the Pacific, from Fiji to here, it’s the same movement,” he explains. “We’re restoring the maritime heritage as a community.”

Political Engagement

In July, Tikoure visited Nice, France to introduce a “Kanak vision of the marine environment” when he had discussions with Macron and government representatives.

Addressing official and overseas representatives, he advocated for collaborative ocean management based on local practices and local engagement.

“It’s essential to include these communities – most importantly fishing communities.”

Contemporary Evolution

Today, when mariners from across the Pacific – from Fiji, the Micronesian region and Aotearoa – arrive in Lifou, they study canoes together, refine the construction and eventually navigate in unison.

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

Holistic Approach

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

“The core concept concerns public engagement: who has the right to navigate marine territories, and who decides which activities take place on it? The canoe is a way to initiate that discussion.”