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This past October on the island of Lifou, a ancient-style canoe was launched into the lagoon – a small act that signified a deeply symbolic moment.

It was the maiden journey of a traditional canoe on Lifou in many decades, an event that assembled the island’s main family lineages in a rare show of unity.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the last eight years, he has overseen a project that seeks to restore ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia.

Many heritage vessels have been constructed in an effort designed to reconnect local Kanak populations with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure explains the boats also facilitate the “opening of discussions” around ocean rights and environmental policies.

International Advocacy

In July, he journeyed to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for marine policies shaped with and by Indigenous communities that honor their maritime heritage.

“Our ancestors always traveled by water. We forgot that knowledge for a while,” Tikoure says. “Currently we’re rediscovering it again.”

Heritage boats hold significant historical significance in New Caledonia. They once symbolised movement, exchange and tribal partnerships across islands, but those traditions declined under colonisation and outside cultural pressures.

Cultural Reclamation

The initiative commenced in 2016, when the New Caledonia heritage ministry was looking at how to restore ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure collaborated with the administration and following a two-year period the boat building initiative – known as the Kenu Waan initiative – was launched.

“The biggest challenge wasn’t harvesting timber, it was gaining local support,” he notes.

Program Successes

The Kenu Waan project aimed to restore traditional navigation techniques, educate new craftspeople and use boat-building to enhance community pride and regional collaboration.

Up to now, the organization has organized a showcase, released a publication and enabled the construction or restoration of approximately thirty vessels – from the southern region to the northern shoreline.

Material Advantages

Unlike many other Pacific islands where forest clearing has limited timber supplies, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for crafting substantial vessels.

“Elsewhere, they often employ marine plywood. Locally, we can still work with whole trees,” he states. “It makes all the difference.”

The vessels created under the initiative combine traditional boat forms with local sailing systems.

Academic Integration

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been teaching maritime travel and heritage building techniques at the educational institution.

“For the first time ever these topics are offered at master’s level. It’s not theory – this is knowledge I’ve experienced. I’ve crossed oceans on these canoes. I’ve experienced profound emotion during these journeys.”

Island Cooperation

Tikoure sailed with the team of the Uto ni Yalo, the Fijian canoe that traveled to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024.

“Throughout the region, through various islands, it’s the same movement,” he says. “We’re reclaiming the ocean together.”

Policy Advocacy

In July, Tikoure journeyed to the European location to share a “Indigenous perspective of the ocean” when he met with Macron and government representatives.

Addressing official and overseas representatives, he argued for cooperative sea policies based on local practices and local engagement.

“You have to involve local populations – particularly those who live from fishing.”

Current Development

Today, when sailors from across the Pacific – from Fiji, the Micronesian region and New Zealand – visit Lifou, they examine vessels in cooperation, refine the construction and eventually sail side by side.

“We’re not simply replicating the traditional forms, we help them develop.”

Integrated Mission

In his view, instructing mariners and promoting conservation measures are linked.

“It’s all about community participation: who has the right to navigate marine territories, and what authority governs what occurs on it? The canoe function as a means to start that conversation.”