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This past October on Lifou, a double-hulled canoe was launched into the coastal lagoon – a seemingly minor event that signified a deeply symbolic moment.

It was the inaugural voyage of a heritage boat on Lifou in living memory, an occasion that assembled the island’s primary tribal groups in a exceptional demonstration of solidarity.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was the driving force behind the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has overseen a initiative that aims to revive heritage canoe building in New Caledonia.

Many heritage vessels have been built in an initiative intended to reunite Indigenous Kanak people with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure says the boats also facilitate the “beginning of dialogue” around sea access rights and environmental policies.

International Advocacy

During the summer month of July, he visited France and met President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for marine policies developed alongside and by local tribes that honor their maritime heritage.

“Our ancestors always traveled by water. We abandoned that practice for a while,” Tikoure explains. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Canoes hold significant historical importance in New Caledonia. They once stood for mobility, exchange and family cooperations across islands, but those traditions faded under colonial rule and outside cultural pressures.

Cultural Reclamation

His journey started in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was considering how to bring back ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure collaborated with the authorities and following a two-year period the vessel restoration program – known as Kenu Waan project – was established.

“The most difficult aspect didn’t involve wood collection, it was convincing people,” he explains.

Program Successes

The Kenu Waan project sought to revive ancestral sailing methods, educate new craftspeople and use vessel construction to enhance cultural identity and inter-island cooperation.

To date, the team has organized a showcase, published a book and enabled the building or renovation of around 30 canoes – from the far south to Ponerihouen.

Natural Resources

In contrast to many other oceanic nations where tree loss has limited lumber availability, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for crafting substantial vessels.

“In other places, they often employ synthetic materials. Locally, we can still carve solid logs,” he says. “It makes a crucial distinction.”

The vessels built under the initiative merge oceanic vessel shapes with local sailing systems.

Teaching Development

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

“For the first time ever these topics are included at graduate studies. This isn’t academic – it’s something I’ve lived. I’ve crossed oceans on these vessels. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness doing it.”

Pacific Partnerships

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

“Throughout the region, including our location, we’re part of a collective initiative,” he explains. “We’re restoring the sea collectively.”

Policy Advocacy

In July, Tikoure journeyed to Nice, France to present a “Indigenous perspective of the sea” when he conferred with Macron and government representatives.

In front of government and foreign officials, he argued for collaborative ocean management based on Indigenous traditions and community involvement.

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

Contemporary Evolution

Now, when navigators from throughout the region – from Fiji, Micronesia and New Zealand – visit Lifou, they study canoes together, refine the construction and eventually sail side by side.

“We’re not simply replicating the old models, we help them develop.”

Integrated Mission

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

“It’s all about how we involve people: who is entitled to travel ocean waters, and what authority governs which activities take place in these waters? Heritage boats is a way to initiate that discussion.”