Bringing Back the Lost Craft of Traditional Boat Building in New Caledonia

This past October on Lifou island, a double-hulled canoe was set afloat in the lagoon – a small act that marked a highly meaningful moment.

It was the first launch of a ancestral vessel on Lifou in many decades, an event that brought together the island’s main family lineages in a exceptional demonstration of solidarity.

Mariner and advocate Aile Tikoure was the driving force behind the launch. For the last eight years, he has overseen a initiative that seeks to restore heritage canoe building in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been constructed in an effort intended to reunite Indigenous Kanak people with their maritime heritage. Tikoure states the boats also promote the “start of conversation” around maritime entitlements and environmental policies.

Diplomatic Efforts

This past July, he journeyed to France and had discussions with President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for maritime regulations developed alongside and by local tribes that recognise their relationship with the sea.

“Previous generations always traveled by water. We forgot that knowledge for a period,” Tikoure explains. “Now we’re finding it again.”

Canoes hold profound traditional significance in New Caledonia. They once symbolised mobility, interaction and clan alliances across islands, but those customs faded under colonisation and outside cultural pressures.

Cultural Reclamation

The initiative started in 2016, when the New Caledonia cultural authorities was considering how to restore ancestral boat-making techniques. Tikoure collaborated with the authorities and after two years the vessel restoration program – known as Project Kenu Waan – was born.

“The biggest challenge didn’t involve wood collection, it was persuading communities,” he explains.

Program Successes

The program sought to revive ancestral sailing methods, train young builders and use boat-building to enhance community pride and island partnerships.

Up to now, the organization has created a display, issued a volume and enabled the building or renovation of around 30 canoes – from the far south to Ponerihouen.

Material Advantages

In contrast to many other oceanic nations where forest clearing has reduced lumber availability, New Caledonia still has proper lumber for crafting substantial vessels.

“There, they often work with synthetic materials. Here, we can still craft from natural timber,” he states. “This creates all the difference.”

The canoes constructed under the program combine oceanic vessel shapes with regional navigation methods.

Educational Expansion

Starting recently, Tikoure has also been instructing navigation and heritage building techniques at the University of New Caledonia.

“For the first time ever these topics are included at advanced education. It goes beyond textbooks – this is knowledge I’ve lived. I’ve sailed vast distances on these vessels. I’ve experienced profound emotion while accomplishing this.”

Regional Collaboration

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

“Across the Pacific, from Fiji to here, it’s the same movement,” he says. “We’re reclaiming the maritime heritage together.”

Governance Efforts

In July, Tikoure visited the French city to present a “Traditional understanding of the marine environment” when he conferred with Macron and other leaders.

Addressing official and international delegates, he argued for shared maritime governance based on Indigenous traditions and local engagement.

“You have to involve local populations – most importantly fishing communities.”

Modern Adaptation

Currently, when mariners from various island nations – from the Fijian islands, the Micronesian region and Aotearoa – visit Lifou, they analyze boats in cooperation, modify the design and eventually navigate in unison.

“We don’t just copy the old models, we make them evolve.”

Comprehensive Vision

According to Tikoure, teaching navigation and supporting ecological regulations are linked.

“The core concept concerns how we involve people: who has the right to travel ocean waters, and what authority governs which activities take place there? The canoe serve as a method to begin that dialogue.”