🔗 Share this article

During the autumn month of October on Lifou island, a traditional twin-hulled vessel was launched into the lagoon – a small act that signified a profoundly important moment.

It was the first launch of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in many decades, an occasion that assembled the island’s primary tribal groups in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the past eight years, he has spearheaded a initiative that works to resurrect traditional boat making in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been constructed in an initiative intended to reunite local Kanak populations with their maritime heritage. Tikoure explains the boats also promote the “beginning of dialogue” around maritime entitlements and ecological regulations.

Diplomatic Efforts

This past July, he visited France and met President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for ocean governance created in consultation with and by local tribes that acknowledge their relationship with the sea.

“Forefathers always navigated the ocean. We abandoned that practice for a while,” Tikoure says. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Traditional vessels hold significant historical meaning in New Caledonia. They once represented mobility, interaction and tribal partnerships across islands, but those practices declined under foreign occupation and religious conversion efforts.

Tradition Revival

The initiative began in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was considering how to reintroduce ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure partnered with the authorities and two years later the canoe construction project – known as the Kenu Waan initiative – was established.

“The biggest challenge was not cutting down trees, it was persuading communities,” he says.

Project Achievements

The program aimed to restore traditional navigation techniques, mentor apprentice constructors and use boat-building to strengthen community pride and inter-island cooperation.

To date, the group has organized a showcase, released a publication and supported the building or renovation of approximately thirty vessels – from the southern region to the northern shoreline.

Material Advantages

Unlike many other Pacific islands where tree loss has limited wood resources, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for constructing major boats.

“Elsewhere, they often employ marine plywood. Here, we can still carve solid logs,” he says. “That represents all the difference.”

The boats created under the program merge traditional boat forms with local sailing systems.

Teaching Development

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

“It’s the first time these subjects are offered at master’s level. It goes beyond textbooks – these are experiences I’ve experienced. I’ve crossed oceans on these canoes. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness during these journeys.”

Island Cooperation

He traveled with the crew of the Fijian vessel, the Fijian canoe that journeyed to Tonga for the regional gathering in 2024.

“From Hawaii to Rapa Nui, including our location, it’s the same movement,” he explains. “We’re taking back the ocean collectively.”

Political Engagement

In July, Tikoure travelled to Nice, France to share a “Traditional understanding of the sea” when he met with Macron and government representatives.

Addressing official and international delegates, he pushed for cooperative sea policies based on Kanak custom and community involvement.

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

Contemporary Evolution

Today, when navigators from throughout the region – from the Fijian islands, the Micronesian region and Aotearoa – arrive in Lifou, they examine vessels collectively, modify the design and finally voyage together.

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

Comprehensive Vision

According to Tikoure, instructing mariners and advocating environmental policy are linked.

“The core concept concerns public engagement: what permissions exist to move across the sea, and what authority governs which activities take place in these waters? Heritage boats serve as a method to begin that dialogue.”