🔗 Share this article Restoring the Ancient Craft of Canoe Building in the Pacific Territory This past October on the island of Lifou, a double-hulled canoe was pushed into the lagoon – a seemingly minor event that represented a profoundly important moment. It was the inaugural voyage of a heritage boat on Lifou in generations, an event that assembled the island’s three chiefly clans in a uncommon display of togetherness. Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was instrumental in the launch. For the previous eight-year period, he has led a project that works to resurrect ancestral vessel construction in New Caledonia. Dozens of canoes have been crafted in an project designed to reconnect local Kanak populations with their oceanic traditions. Tikoure explains the boats also help the “beginning of dialogue” around ocean rights and environmental policies. Diplomatic Efforts In July, he visited France and met President Emmanuel Macron, calling for marine policies created in consultation with and by Indigenous communities that recognise their connection to the ocean. “Our ancestors always navigated the ocean. We lost that for a time,” Tikoure says. “Today we’re reclaiming it again.” Traditional vessels hold significant historical importance in New Caledonia. They once stood for movement, exchange and family cooperations across islands, but those customs diminished under colonisation and missionary influences. Cultural Reclamation His journey started in 2016, when the New Caledonia government’s culture department was considering how to reintroduce traditional canoe-building skills. Tikoure collaborated with the authorities and after two years the boat building initiative – known as Kenu Waan project – was launched. “The biggest challenge wasn’t wood collection, it was gaining local support,” he notes. Program Successes The Kenu Waan project worked to bring back traditional navigation techniques, mentor apprentice constructors and use vessel construction to strengthen community pride and island partnerships. To date, the team has created a display, published a book and enabled the creation or repair of around 30 canoes – from the southern region to Ponerihouen. Natural Resources In contrast to many other island territories where tree loss has diminished timber supplies, New Caledonia still has appropriate timber for carving large hulls. “In other places, they often employ marine plywood. Here, we can still carve solid logs,” he states. “This creates all the difference.” The boats created under the Kenu Waan Project merge Polynesian hull design with regional navigation methods. Educational Expansion Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been educating students in maritime travel and heritage building techniques at the local university. “For the first time ever these topics are offered at master’s level. It’s not theory – this is knowledge I’ve lived. I’ve sailed vast distances on traditional boats. I’ve experienced profound emotion during these journeys.” Pacific Partnerships He voyaged with the crew of the traditional boat, the heritage craft that sailed to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024. “Across the Pacific, through various islands, this represents a unified effort,” he says. “We’re reclaiming the ocean as a community.” Policy Advocacy During the summer, Tikoure travelled to Nice, France to share a “Kanak vision of the ocean” when he conferred with Macron and other leaders. In front of government and foreign officials, he argued for cooperative sea policies based on local practices and local engagement. “We must engage local populations – particularly those who live from fishing.” Current Development Currently, when sailors from across the Pacific – from Fiji, Micronesia and Aotearoa – visit Lifou, they examine vessels in cooperation, refine the construction and eventually sail side by side. “We don’t just copy the old models, we make them evolve.” Holistic Approach According to Tikoure, instructing mariners and advocating environmental policy are connected. “The fundamental issue involves how we involve people: who is entitled to move across the sea, and who determines which activities take place in these waters? Traditional vessels function as a means to start that conversation.”