Reviving the Forgotten Craft of Canoe Making in New Caledonia

This past October on Lifou, a double-hulled canoe was launched into the turquoise waters – a simple gesture that represented a highly meaningful moment.

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

Activist and sailor Aile Tikoure was instrumental in the launch. For the past eight years, he has overseen a initiative that seeks to restore heritage canoe building in New Caledonia.

Dozens of canoes have been built in an project designed to reconnect Indigenous Kanak people with their seafaring legacy. Tikoure says the boats also facilitate the “start of conversation” around sea access rights and ecological regulations.

Diplomatic Efforts

In July, he journeyed to France and conferred with President Emmanuel Macron, advocating for maritime regulations developed alongside and by Indigenous communities that acknowledge their relationship with the sea.

“Our ancestors always traveled by water. We abandoned that practice for a time,” Tikoure says. “Today we’re reclaiming it again.”

Heritage boats hold significant historical significance in New Caledonia. They once represented mobility, exchange and clan alliances across islands, but those practices diminished under colonisation and missionary influences.

Cultural Reclamation

This mission commenced in 2016, when the New Caledonia heritage ministry was exploring how to bring back heritage vessel construction methods. Tikoure partnered with the government and following a two-year period the boat building initiative – known as Project Kenu Waan – was established.

“The hardest part didn’t involve wood collection, it was persuading communities,” he notes.

Program Successes

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

So far, the team has organized a showcase, released a publication and supported the creation or repair of nearly three dozen boats – from Goro to the northeastern coast.

Material Advantages

Different from many other Pacific islands where forest clearing has diminished timber supplies, New Caledonia still has suitable wood for carving large hulls.

“There, they often work with marine plywood. Locally, we can still carve solid logs,” he says. “This creates a significant advantage.”

The boats built under the program merge Polynesian hull design with regional navigation methods.

Educational Expansion

Beginning this year, Tikoure has also been teaching maritime travel and traditional construction history at the local university.

“This marks the initial occasion this knowledge are included at graduate studies. It’s not theory – it’s something I’ve lived. I’ve crossed oceans on traditional boats. I’ve felt overwhelming happiness during these journeys.”

Island Cooperation

He voyaged with the team of the traditional boat, the heritage craft that sailed to Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum in 2024.

“Throughout the region, including our location, this represents a unified effort,” he states. “We’re reclaiming the ocean as a community.”

Political Engagement

In July, Tikoure travelled to Nice, France to present a “Kanak vision of the marine environment” when he met with Macron and other leaders.

Addressing official and overseas representatives, he pushed for shared maritime governance based on Kanak custom and local engagement.

“We must engage these communities – most importantly people dependent on marine resources.”

Current Development

Currently, when sailors from throughout the region – from Fiji, the Micronesian region and Aotearoa – come to Lifou, they analyze boats in cooperation, adjust the structure and ultimately navigate in unison.

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

Holistic Approach

For Tikoure, educating sailors and supporting ecological regulations are interrelated.

“The core concept concerns how we involve people: who has the right to move across the sea, and who determines what occurs in these waters? Traditional vessels serve as a method to begin that dialogue.”