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This past October on the island of Lifou, a ancient-style canoe was set afloat in the lagoon – a simple gesture that signified a deeply symbolic moment.

It was the inaugural voyage of a traditional canoe on Lifou in living memory, an event that united the island’s primary tribal groups in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was instrumental in the launch. For the last eight years, he has led a program that aims to revive ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia.

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

Global Outreach

During the summer month of July, he travelled to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for marine policies shaped with and by Indigenous communities that honor their relationship with the sea.

“Our ancestors always traveled by water. We lost that for a time,” Tikoure states. “Currently we’re rediscovering it again.”

Heritage boats hold profound traditional meaning in New Caledonia. They once represented travel, trade and family cooperations across islands, but those customs faded under colonisation and outside cultural pressures.

Tradition Revival

This mission started in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was considering how to restore ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure collaborated with the administration and after two years the canoe construction project – known as the Kenu Waan initiative – was established.

“The most difficult aspect wasn’t harvesting timber, it was convincing people,” he explains.

Program Successes

The Kenu Waan project aimed to restore traditional navigation techniques, educate new craftspeople and use canoe-making to reinforce traditional heritage and island partnerships.

So far, the team has produced an exhibition, issued a volume and facilitated the construction or restoration of nearly three dozen boats – from Goro to Ponerihouen.

Natural Resources

Different from many other island territories where forest clearing has limited timber supplies, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for constructing major boats.

“In other places, they often use synthetic materials. Locally, we can still craft from natural timber,” he explains. “This creates a crucial distinction.”

The vessels built under the program combine oceanic vessel shapes with local sailing systems.

Teaching Development

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been educating students in maritime travel and heritage building techniques at the local university.

“It’s the first time this knowledge are taught at master’s level. It goes beyond textbooks – this is knowledge I’ve experienced. I’ve navigated major waters on these vessels. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness during these journeys.”

Island Cooperation

He traveled with the members of the Fijian vessel, the heritage craft that traveled to Tonga for the oceanic conference in 2024.

“Throughout the region, from Fiji to here, we’re part of a collective initiative,” he states. “We’re reclaiming the sea as a community.”

Policy Advocacy

This past July, Tikoure travelled to the European location to present a “Indigenous perspective of the ocean” when he conferred with Macron and government representatives.

In front of government and overseas representatives, he advocated for cooperative sea policies based on Indigenous traditions and participation.

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

Current Development

Today, when sailors from across the Pacific – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and New Zealand – arrive in Lifou, they analyze boats in cooperation, refine the construction and ultimately sail side by side.

“We don’t just copy the ancient designs, we make them evolve.”

Integrated Mission

According to Tikoure, educating sailors and supporting ecological regulations are linked.

“It’s all about how we involve people: who has the right to travel ocean waters, and who decides what happens there? Heritage boats is a way to start that conversation.”