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This past October on Lifou island, a ancient-style canoe was set afloat in the lagoon – a seemingly minor event that signified a profoundly important moment.

It was the inaugural voyage of a traditional canoe on Lifou in many decades, an occasion that assembled the island’s three chiefly clans in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was instrumental in the launch. For the last eight years, he has overseen a program that aims to revive traditional boat making in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been constructed in an effort intended to reunite local Kanak populations with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure states the boats also facilitate the “start of conversation” around ocean rights and ecological regulations.

Diplomatic Efforts

During the summer month of July, he travelled to France and met President Emmanuel Macron, calling for marine policies shaped with and by local tribes that acknowledge their maritime heritage.

“Our ancestors always traveled by water. We abandoned that practice for a period,” Tikoure states. “Today we’re reclaiming it again.”

Heritage boats hold significant historical significance in New Caledonia. They once stood for travel, exchange and tribal partnerships across islands, but those traditions diminished under colonial rule and outside cultural pressures.

Tradition Revival

The initiative commenced in 2016, when the New Caledonia heritage ministry was considering how to reintroduce traditional canoe-building skills. Tikoure collaborated with the administration and following a two-year period the canoe construction project – known as the Kenu Waan initiative – was born.

“The most difficult aspect was not wood collection, it was persuading communities,” he says.

Program Successes

The program sought to revive heritage voyaging practices, train young builders and use boat-building to enhance cultural identity and inter-island cooperation.

To date, the team has produced an exhibition, issued a volume and facilitated the creation or repair of nearly three dozen boats – from the southern region to the northeastern coast.

Resource Benefits

Different from many other oceanic nations where deforestation has diminished wood resources, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for constructing major boats.

“Elsewhere, they often work with marine plywood. Locally, we can still craft from natural timber,” he states. “It makes all the difference.”

The boats constructed under the initiative merge oceanic vessel shapes with Melanesian rigging.

Educational Expansion

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

“This marks the initial occasion these topics are offered at graduate studies. It goes beyond textbooks – these are experiences I’ve personally undertaken. I’ve crossed oceans on these canoes. I’ve experienced profound emotion during these journeys.”

Regional Collaboration

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

“Throughout the region, including our location, this represents a unified effort,” he says. “We’re restoring the ocean as a community.”

Political Engagement

This past July, Tikoure travelled to the European location to share a “Indigenous perspective of the marine environment” when he conferred with Macron and other leaders.

Before state and international delegates, he pushed for shared maritime governance based on Kanak custom and local engagement.

“We must engage local populations – especially people dependent on marine resources.”

Modern Adaptation

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

“We’re not simply replicating the traditional forms, we enable their progression.”

Integrated Mission

According to Tikoure, instructing mariners and promoting conservation measures are interrelated.

“The fundamental issue involves community participation: who is entitled to navigate marine territories, and who determines what occurs there? Traditional vessels serve as a method to initiate that discussion.”