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During the autumn month of October on Lifou, a traditional twin-hulled vessel was launched into the coastal lagoon – a simple gesture that marked a highly meaningful moment.

It was the first launch of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in many decades, an gathering that brought together the island’s primary tribal groups in a exceptional demonstration of solidarity.

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was behind the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has spearheaded a program that aims to revive ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia.

Numerous traditional boats have been constructed in an initiative intended to reunite local Kanak populations with their maritime heritage. Tikoure states the boats also help the “beginning of dialogue” around maritime entitlements and conservation measures.

Global Outreach

This past July, he visited France and met President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for maritime regulations created in consultation with and by native populations that recognise their connection to the ocean.

“Previous generations always crossed the sea. We abandoned that practice for a time,” Tikoure states. “Currently we’re rediscovering it again.”

Traditional vessels hold deep cultural importance in New Caledonia. They once represented travel, interaction and tribal partnerships across islands, but those customs diminished under foreign occupation and religious conversion efforts.

Cultural Reclamation

The initiative commenced in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was considering how to bring back ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure worked with the authorities and after two years the canoe construction project – known as Kenu Waan project – was launched.

“The hardest part was not wood collection, it was persuading communities,” he notes.

Project Achievements

The program aimed to restore heritage voyaging practices, train young builders and use boat-building to reinforce traditional heritage and island partnerships.

To date, the organization has organized a showcase, issued a volume and supported the creation or repair of around 30 canoes – from Goro to the northeastern coast.

Natural Resources

Different from many other Pacific islands where forest clearing has limited timber supplies, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for crafting substantial vessels.

“In other places, they often use modern composites. Locally, we can still work with whole trees,” he states. “This creates all the difference.”

The boats constructed under the initiative merge Polynesian hull design with Melanesian rigging.

Educational Expansion

Starting recently, Tikoure has also been instructing maritime travel and traditional construction history at the local university.

“For the first time ever these subjects are included at master’s level. This isn’t academic – this is knowledge I’ve lived. I’ve navigated major waters on traditional boats. I’ve experienced profound emotion doing it.”

Island Cooperation

He traveled with the team of the Fijian vessel, the Pacific vessel that journeyed to Tonga for the oceanic conference in 2024.

“Across the Pacific, from Fiji to here, this represents a unified effort,” he states. “We’re reclaiming the sea together.”

Policy Advocacy

This past July, Tikoure travelled to Nice, France to present a “Indigenous perspective of the marine environment” when he conferred with Macron and other leaders.

In front of government and overseas representatives, he advocated for shared maritime governance based on local practices and participation.

“We must engage them – particularly those who live from fishing.”

Current Development

Currently, when navigators from throughout the region – from Fiji, the Micronesian region and New Zealand – arrive in Lifou, they analyze boats in cooperation, modify the design and ultimately voyage together.

“We don’t just copy the ancient designs, we make them evolve.”

Integrated Mission

For Tikoure, teaching navigation and promoting conservation measures are linked.

“The fundamental issue involves how we involve people: who is entitled to move across the sea, and what authority governs what happens on it? Traditional vessels serve as a method to begin that dialogue.”