🔗 Share this article

In October on Lifou, a ancient-style canoe was set afloat in the coastal lagoon – a small act that signified a highly meaningful moment.

It was the inaugural voyage of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in many decades, an occasion that assembled the island’s three chiefly clans 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.

Many heritage vessels have been crafted in an effort designed to reconnect local Kanak populations with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure says the boats also facilitate the “start of conversation” around sea access rights and ecological regulations.

Global Outreach

In July, he visited France and had discussions with President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for ocean governance developed alongside and by Indigenous communities that recognise their relationship with the sea.

“Forefathers always traveled by water. We forgot that knowledge for a period,” Tikoure explains. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Traditional vessels hold profound traditional importance in New Caledonia. They once symbolised mobility, exchange and clan alliances across islands, but those customs faded under colonial rule and religious conversion efforts.

Heritage Restoration

The initiative started in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was looking at how to restore ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure partnered with the authorities and following a two-year period the vessel restoration program – known as Kenu Waan project – was launched.

“The hardest part was not cutting down trees, it was gaining local support,” he notes.

Program Successes

The initiative aimed to restore heritage voyaging practices, educate new craftspeople and use vessel construction to enhance community pride and regional collaboration.

To date, the group has produced an exhibition, published a book and enabled the creation or repair of around 30 canoes – from Goro to the northern shoreline.

Natural Resources

Different from many other Pacific islands where deforestation has limited wood resources, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for constructing major boats.

“In other places, they often work with marine plywood. In our location, we can still carve solid logs,” he states. “That represents a crucial distinction.”

The vessels built under the program merge oceanic vessel shapes with Melanesian rigging.

Academic Integration

Since 2024, Tikoure has also been educating students in navigation and heritage building techniques at the local university.

“It’s the first time these topics are taught at graduate studies. It’s not theory – it’s something I’ve experienced. I’ve sailed vast distances on traditional boats. I’ve cried tears of joy while accomplishing this.”

Pacific Partnerships

He voyaged with the team of the traditional boat, the Pacific vessel that sailed to Tonga for the oceanic conference in 2024.

“Throughout the region, from Fiji to here, it’s the same movement,” he states. “We’re taking back the ocean collectively.”

Political Engagement

This past July, Tikoure visited Nice, France to present a “Traditional understanding of the marine environment” when he met with Macron and additional officials.

Addressing official and foreign officials, he pushed for collaborative ocean management based on Kanak custom and participation.

“You have to involve these communities – most importantly those who live from fishing.”

Current Development

Today, when navigators from various island nations – from Fiji, the Micronesian region and New Zealand – arrive in Lifou, they analyze boats collectively, modify the design and ultimately voyage together.

“It’s not about duplicating the traditional forms, we help them develop.”

Comprehensive Vision

According to Tikoure, teaching navigation and supporting ecological regulations are connected.

“It’s all about community participation: who is entitled to move across the sea, and what authority governs what happens there? Traditional vessels function as a means to initiate that discussion.”