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During the autumn month of October on Lifou, a ancient-style canoe was launched into the lagoon – a seemingly minor event that marked a profoundly important moment.

It was the first launch of a heritage boat on Lifou in generations, an gathering that assembled the island’s main family lineages in a uncommon display of togetherness.

Seafarer and campaigner Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the last eight years, he has led a program that aims to revive heritage canoe building in New Caledonia.

Numerous traditional boats have been constructed in an effort intended to reunite native Kanak communities with their seafaring legacy. Tikoure says the boats also facilitate the “opening of discussions” around maritime entitlements and environmental policies.

International Advocacy

In July, he travelled to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for maritime regulations created in consultation with and by local tribes that recognise their relationship with the sea.

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

Heritage boats hold profound traditional significance in New Caledonia. They once stood for movement, interaction and tribal partnerships across islands, but those customs faded under colonial rule and outside cultural pressures.

Tradition Revival

The initiative started in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was exploring how to bring back ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure partnered with the administration and after two years the vessel restoration program – known as Project Kenu Waan – was launched.

“The most difficult aspect didn’t involve harvesting timber, it was gaining local support,” he says.

Program Successes

The initiative worked to bring back heritage voyaging practices, train young builders and use canoe-making to reinforce community pride and inter-island cooperation.

So far, the organization has created a display, released a publication and facilitated the creation or repair of approximately thirty vessels – from the southern region to Ponerihouen.

Resource Benefits

Different from many other island territories where forest clearing has reduced timber supplies, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for carving large hulls.

“There, they often use modern composites. In our location, we can still carve solid logs,” he states. “It makes all the difference.”

The boats created under the program merge oceanic vessel shapes with Melanesian rigging.

Teaching Development

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

“This marks the initial occasion these subjects are included at advanced education. It goes beyond textbooks – this is knowledge I’ve personally undertaken. I’ve crossed oceans on these canoes. I’ve cried tears of joy doing it.”

Island Cooperation

He voyaged with the members of the Fijian vessel, the Fijian canoe that sailed to Tonga for the regional gathering in 2024.

“Across the Pacific, through various islands, this represents a unified effort,” he states. “We’re reclaiming the ocean as a community.”

Political Engagement

This past July, Tikoure travelled to the French city to introduce a “Kanak vision of the marine environment” when he met with Macron and additional officials.

In front of government and foreign officials, he advocated for collaborative ocean management based on local practices and participation.

“We must engage local populations – most importantly people dependent on marine resources.”

Modern Adaptation

Currently, when mariners from various island nations – from the Fijian islands, Micronesia and Aotearoa – come to Lifou, they study canoes collectively, adjust the structure and ultimately voyage together.

“It’s not about duplicating the old models, we enable their progression.”

Integrated Mission

In his view, educating sailors and advocating environmental policy are interrelated.

“It’s all about how we involve people: who is entitled to move across the sea, and who determines what occurs there? Heritage boats is a way to start that conversation.”