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This past October on the island of Lifou, a traditional twin-hulled vessel was launched into the coastal lagoon – a seemingly minor event that signified a deeply symbolic moment.

It was the inaugural voyage of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in living memory, an gathering that assembled the island’s main family lineages in a rare show of unity.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was instrumental in the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has overseen a initiative that aims to revive traditional boat making in New Caledonia.

Many heritage vessels have been built in an initiative designed to reconnect Indigenous Kanak people with their maritime heritage. Tikoure says the boats also help the “start of conversation” around ocean rights and conservation measures.

Global Outreach

In July, he journeyed to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for maritime regulations shaped with and by Indigenous communities that recognise their connection to the ocean.

“Previous generations always navigated the ocean. We lost that for a while,” Tikoure explains. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Canoes hold deep cultural significance in New Caledonia. They once symbolised mobility, exchange and clan alliances across islands, but those customs diminished under foreign occupation and outside cultural pressures.

Heritage Restoration

The initiative began in 2016, when the New Caledonia heritage ministry was exploring how to restore heritage vessel construction methods. Tikoure collaborated with the government and two years later the vessel restoration program – known as Kenu Waan project – was born.

“The hardest part was not wood collection, it was persuading communities,” he notes.

Initiative Accomplishments

The program worked to bring back traditional navigation techniques, mentor apprentice constructors and use canoe-making to strengthen traditional heritage and inter-island cooperation.

Up to now, the organization has produced an exhibition, published a book and supported the creation or repair of nearly three dozen boats – from Goro to the northern shoreline.

Natural Resources

Different from many other Pacific islands where deforestation has diminished lumber availability, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for carving large hulls.

“In other places, they often work with modern composites. Here, we can still carve solid logs,” he explains. “That represents a significant advantage.”

The canoes constructed under the initiative integrate oceanic vessel shapes with regional navigation methods.

Educational Expansion

Since 2024, Tikoure has also been instructing maritime travel and ancestral craft methods at the University of New Caledonia.

“For the first time ever this knowledge are taught at advanced education. It’s not theory – these are experiences I’ve experienced. I’ve crossed oceans on these canoes. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness while accomplishing this.”

Island Cooperation

Tikoure sailed with the team of the traditional boat, the Fijian canoe that journeyed to Tonga for the oceanic conference in 2024.

“From Hawaii to Rapa Nui, from Fiji to here, it’s the same movement,” he states. “We’re taking back the ocean collectively.”

Policy Advocacy

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

Addressing official and overseas representatives, he pushed for shared maritime governance based on Kanak custom and participation.

“We must engage these communities – especially people dependent on marine resources.”

Current Development

Now, when mariners from throughout the region – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and New Zealand – visit Lifou, they examine vessels in cooperation, refine the construction and finally navigate in unison.

“We don’t just copy the traditional forms, we make them evolve.”

Comprehensive Vision

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

“The fundamental issue involves community participation: what permissions exist to travel ocean waters, and who decides which activities take place in these waters? Heritage boats serve as a method to initiate that discussion.”