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During the autumn month of October on Lifou island, a double-hulled canoe was launched into the turquoise waters – a seemingly minor event that represented a profoundly important moment.

It was the maiden journey of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in generations, an event that brought together 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 overseen a project that seeks to restore ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia.

Numerous traditional boats have been crafted in an initiative designed to reconnect native Kanak communities with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure explains the boats also promote the “start of conversation” around sea access rights and conservation measures.

Global Outreach

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

“Previous generations always traveled by water. We lost that for a time,” Tikoure states. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Canoes hold deep cultural importance in New Caledonia. They once symbolised travel, interaction and clan alliances across islands, but those practices declined under colonisation and outside cultural pressures.

Tradition Revival

The initiative started in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was exploring how to bring back traditional canoe-building skills. Tikoure worked with the government and after two years the canoe construction project – known as the Kenu Waan initiative – was born.

“The most difficult aspect wasn’t wood collection, it was persuading communities,” he notes.

Project Achievements

The Kenu Waan project sought to revive traditional navigation techniques, educate new craftspeople and use boat-building to reinforce cultural identity and inter-island cooperation.

To date, the organization has organized a showcase, issued a volume and facilitated the building or renovation of around 30 canoes – from the far south to the northeastern coast.

Resource Benefits

Different from many other oceanic nations where forest clearing has limited timber supplies, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for constructing major boats.

“Elsewhere, they often use marine plywood. Locally, we can still carve solid logs,” he states. “This creates all the difference.”

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

Educational Expansion

Starting recently, Tikoure has also been educating students in maritime travel and traditional construction history at the educational institution.

“For the first time ever these subjects are included at graduate studies. It’s not theory – this is knowledge I’ve experienced. I’ve navigated major waters on traditional boats. I’ve cried tears of joy doing it.”

Island Cooperation

He traveled with the members of the Uto ni Yalo, the Pacific vessel that sailed to Tonga for the regional gathering in 2024.

“From Hawaii to Rapa Nui, including our location, we’re part of a collective initiative,” he states. “We’re restoring the ocean together.”

Political Engagement

In July, Tikoure visited the European location to introduce a “Kanak vision of the ocean” when he met with Macron and other leaders.

Before state and foreign officials, he argued for cooperative sea policies based on Kanak custom and local engagement.

“We must engage them – most importantly people dependent on marine resources.”

Contemporary Evolution

Currently, when navigators from across the Pacific – from the Fijian islands, the Micronesian region and New Zealand – visit Lifou, they examine vessels in cooperation, refine the construction and eventually voyage together.

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

Holistic Approach

In his view, educating sailors and promoting conservation measures are connected.

“It’s all about public engagement: who has the right to move across the sea, and what authority governs what happens in these waters? Heritage boats is a way to begin that dialogue.”