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During the autumn month of October on Lifou, a ancient-style canoe was set afloat in the turquoise waters – a seemingly minor event that represented a highly meaningful moment.

It was the inaugural voyage of a traditional canoe on Lifou in generations, an gathering that united the island’s three chiefly clans in a rare show of unity.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was the driving force behind the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has led a program that works to resurrect ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been crafted in an project designed to reconnect Indigenous Kanak people with their seafaring legacy. Tikoure states the boats also help the “beginning of dialogue” around maritime entitlements and conservation measures.

Diplomatic Efforts

In July, he travelled to France and met President Emmanuel Macron, pushing for marine policies developed alongside and by native populations that acknowledge their connection to the ocean.

“Forefathers always navigated the ocean. We forgot that knowledge for a period,” Tikoure explains. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Traditional vessels hold profound traditional meaning in New Caledonia. They once stood for movement, trade and clan alliances across islands, but those customs diminished under colonial rule and outside cultural pressures.

Heritage Restoration

His journey began in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was exploring how to bring back traditional canoe-building skills. Tikoure partnered with the authorities and following a two-year period the vessel restoration program – known as the Kenu Waan initiative – was launched.

“The biggest challenge wasn’t wood collection, it was convincing people,” he explains.

Program Successes

The program sought to revive heritage voyaging practices, educate new craftspeople and use canoe-making to enhance traditional heritage and inter-island cooperation.

So far, the team has produced an exhibition, published a book and supported the construction or restoration of nearly three dozen boats – from the southern region to the northeastern coast.

Resource Benefits

Different from many other oceanic nations where tree loss has limited lumber availability, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for carving large hulls.

“Elsewhere, they often work with modern composites. Locally, we can still work with whole trees,” he explains. “That represents a crucial distinction.”

The canoes constructed under the initiative merge oceanic vessel shapes with Melanesian rigging.

Academic Integration

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been educating students in seafaring and heritage building techniques at the University of New Caledonia.

“For the first time ever this knowledge are offered at master’s level. It goes beyond textbooks – it’s something I’ve lived. I’ve navigated major waters on these vessels. I’ve experienced profound emotion during these journeys.”

Island Cooperation

Tikoure sailed with the crew of the Uto ni Yalo, the heritage craft that journeyed to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024.

“Across the Pacific, including our location, this represents a unified effort,” he explains. “We’re restoring the sea as a community.”

Governance Efforts

In July, Tikoure journeyed to the European location to present a “Traditional understanding of the sea” when he conferred with Macron and additional officials.

Before state and international delegates, he advocated for shared maritime governance based on Kanak custom and local engagement.

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

Contemporary Evolution

Today, when navigators from throughout the region – from Fiji, Micronesia and Aotearoa – come to Lifou, they examine vessels together, modify the design and finally sail side by side.

“It’s not about duplicating the old models, we make them evolve.”

Holistic Approach

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

“It’s all about community participation: who has the right to travel ocean waters, and who determines what happens in these waters? The canoe function as a means to start that conversation.”